Torn Apart
by Soft Ripple
Summary: Nessie is half human & half vampire, not belonging anywhere, But things change from the day she starts high school,and she is drawn into a world she never knew, one of love, hate, secrets, and pain.
1. Chapter 1

**Torn Apart**

**Preface**

Humans, vampires, werewolves, it didn't matter what species you were; you could never be immune to suffering. Sure, vampires and werewolves couldn't really suffer physical pain- given that vampires were very hard to injure or harm and werewolves healed fast- but that didn't mean that they couldn't be maimed internally.

I had finally realised that, but much too late. If I had realised earlier, I might have been able to solve the situation, instead of ruining everything beyond repair and then inflicting hurt upon myself. But what could I have done to help? I had given and done everything I possibly could so that I was no longer whole, I was in pieces, and I was torn too far apart to ever come together again. I was alone, shattered and, Torn Apart.

**Chapter One **

"Renesmee, wake up!" I heard my mother's voice call up to me. Although, there was no need for her to call as I was already awake, dressed and ready to go, as though I could ever sleep through my first day in Forks High School.

Mom was obviously only yelling up to me as I hadn't appeared downstairs yet. An odd action from me, I know, when I had been awake and ready for the last hour. Her assumption was understandable as I was always the last one to wake, never having been a morning person. I laughed aloud at that thought; I wasn't a morning person, because technically I wasn't a person. Aside from Grandpa Charlie, none of my family was human. They were vampires, Grandpa Charlie a human, and me, somewhere in between; not quite fitting in anywhere.

"Nessie, being late on your first day is not likely to make a good impression on anyone" Mom shouted angrily, in a tone that said quite clearly that if I didn't get my ass down there right this instant, then she was going to come and force me down (which wouldn't be pretty).

Sighing, I hollered back: "I'm coming, mom".

Obviously, I had used up enough time, fretting over whether or not I would fit in at my new school. I had wasted enough time, contemplating the fact that at the age of seventeen, I was going to be entering a school for the first time ever, not that I would reveal that piece of information to any of my peers. My peers. All those humans with a steady flow of edible blood running through their veins, all within close proximity within me, which I would have to resist. This had been drilled into my head by the whole of my family for the past number of weeks, preparing me for this new experience.

I did not resent my family for not allowing me to start school until now, it had been necessary; I had been aging too quickly. If they had made me start school from Kindergarten, it would've only been to see me in first grade within less than half a year. But now that I had stopped aging, I could start studying in a school instead of being taught at home by Grandpa Carlisle and my father.

"You stopped aging rather earlier than we expected, we hadn't anticipated that when you stopped aging, you would still be young enough to be in high school" Grandpa Carlisle told me as the whole family discussed whether or not I should enrol in high school.

It had finally been decided that I should enrol to keep up appearances. For years, I had been unable to wander into the centre of the town of forks, within sight of the residents, lest should anyone notice that I looked a little older than I had a couple of days ago. The Cullens had all fabricated the story that I was some distant relative that had been studying somewhere abroad. My parents looked much too young to be parents of a seventeen year old girl so they had to pretend to be some relatives.

The reason for my return to Forks after all these years to enrol in high school would be that I had been having some trouble with my imaginary parents that lived abroad. I was now supposedly living here with the Cullens who were only too happy to have me. Grandpa Charlie who was a human knew only a part of this. He knew that all of us Cullens were from a different world, apart from the werewolves, he knew nothing else. As far as my true identity was concerned, he knew that I wasn't just a relative, but that I had been here in Forks since I was a baby.

However, it was not possible for Grandpa Charlie to see me too often as he would notice how in the short space of six years, I had already matured to seventeen. Mom managed to prevent frequent visits from Grandpa Charlie by pretending that during all the school semesters, I was too busy to visit. During the summer, she insisted to Charlie that I be sent to Florida to visit Grandma Renee who I never visited, but only spoke to on the phone. Mom appeased Grandpa Charlie by allowing him to talk to me on the phone, and visiting him herself so that he wouldn't feel completely abandoned.

This pretence had annoyed me from time to time, but it had been necessary to prevent people from noticing the fast progress in which I was maturing. I had been waiting for years for the day I would stop maturing and could finally go out in public and attend school like Jacob did. But now that it was actually happening, I was nervous about entering Forks High School for the first time.

"Nessie, if you're not here within the next five seconds, I am going to come and drag you down here" Mom called angrily, making me come out of my reverie with a jump. I realised that the doubts that had been stalking me for the last couple of days had caused me to linger in my room for longer than I had intended.

I cast one swift glance in the full-length mirror in my bedroom, making sure that my long, waist-length, bronze coloured curls were still neatly tied up in its long braid, trailing down my back. Then I flew down the stairs, going at my vampire speed to prevent mom from going from angry to murderously furious.

"Wow, perfect timing, Ness, if you came a second later, Bella probably would've trashed your room" Uncle Emmet guffawed as I skidded to a halt downstairs, in front of my mom.

"Yeah, she definitely would've, but by the time she would've finished, I would've jumped out the window, and ran all the way to school." I grinned at him.

"Well, if you still want to get there on time, you're going to have to get in the car, now" Dad notified me as he got up from the stool behind his piano. I hadn't been aware that he had been playing; I wish I had been as it would've calmed my frazzled nerves. I was so nervous that I could hear my heart accelerate as my dad got the car keys to his Volvo.

Dad pivoted round to face me at that moment: "You're nervous". It wasn't a question; he knew I was as he had obviously heard my thoughts. Damn! I had been so nervous that I'd forgotten about that specific talent of his, otherwise I would've been more careful about my thoughts around him. I didn't want anyone to know how nervous I was; I never like to show any signs of weakness.

"Yes" I agreed, there was no point denying it.

"Do you want me to get Jasper?" Dad asked, looking concerned.

I shook my head. It would be lovely and soothing to have Uncle Jasper manipulate my mood to a more serene note. But he wasn't going to be with me all day in school, and as soon as I left his company, all my doubts and worries would return, so really, there was no point asking for his help.

"Maybe you can get Auntie Alice to tell us whether or not I am going to survive today" I suggested.

Dad chuckled and replied: "I don't think anyone would need an Alice to know that you'll be absolutely fine".

"How can you be so sure?" I retorted.

"Because it's you. You've always been so confident and courageous; you make everyone love you straight away. Besides, you're indestructible, you can't die, so there's no doubt that you'll survive."

I glared at him and responded: "I might be indestructible, but that doesn't mean I can't feel extreme pain".

Dad just laughed and walked out the door to his Volvo, expecting me to follow. I lingered for a few seconds before deciding that this was inevitable. However, I was stopped by my mom's voice.

"Edward is right, Nessie. You'll be fine" mom assured me.

I nodded. Mom and dad were right; I was going to be fine. It was just a high school, for god's sake, not a pit of wild grizzly bears- although, I most definitely could come out of fight with grizzly bears without any serious injuries- I could handle this, I was just letting my nerves overwhelm me.

I squared my shoulders determinedly, I was a Cullen, and Cullens were always impeccable at keeping up appearances and looking out for their family, doing their best to make things easier for everyone. I was a fully matured woman now, I had stopped aging, even according to human standards, I was seventeen, and that was old enough to adopt some form of responsibility.

I walked out the door, ready to come into the sight of all the other people of Forks. I got into the Volvo and dad started the engine, racing us to the first day of my new life.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

I reached the school with a couple of minutes to spare thanks to dad's lightning speed. Mom always hated his habit of going at more than eighty miles an hour, but at times like these, it could be useful. Having spare time meant that I could delay actually going inside the building and just sit in the car. I leaned my head back in the seat, allowing the anxiety to engulf me. I desperately wanted the school day to end so that I could go down to La Push and visit Jacob so that he could make me laugh and forget all about my worries.

"Nessie, you're not still nervous, are you?" Dad leaned towards me to ask.

Then again, maybe, if we had arrived a little bit later, I would've had to enter the building straight away, which would've disabled dad to ask me this particular question that I really didn't want to answer.

"Dad, don't worry, I'll be fine, like you said" I answered, endeavouring to make my words sound believable, but my response sounded automatic rather than sincere even to my own ears.

"Renesmee, what exactly are you afraid of?" dad enquired, his eyes- coal black today, as our family hadn't hunted for a while- scanning my facial expression, as I suppose he couldn't really find the answers in my head, as to be honest I didn't have any. I pressed my finger to his white, icy cold brow- a common feature of vampires- so that the images that had been running through my head since last night and all through this morning would replay them selves in his head.

I could tell from his troubled expression that he could see the images that haunted me in my worst nightmares: images of me with blood red eyes, caused by the blood that I had drained from humans that were the mangled corpses surrounding me, and then, all the faces of each member of my family, each person that would be so troubled by my misdeeds. Then, the last image, the most trivial one, but one that worried me nonetheless; me, sitting in the cafeteria, and all my classes without any friends, disliked by everyone, singled out as the outsider that I was born as, unable to fit in anywhere.

I quickly jerked my finger away from dad's brow, after having realised that I had never meant to show dad the last image, but as I replayed all those worries for him, I had become immersed in them, completely forgetting that dad was gazing at these images as well.

"You'd better go inside otherwise you'll be late. We'll talk about this later" dad told me, looking like he was deep in thought, thinking of what I had just shown him, no doubt.

I nodded stiffly, and made to open the door so that I could get out and face what was most definitely going to be the most difficult day of my life but was stopped by the sound of dad's voice:

"Nessie, don't worry too much, you will be fine, I don't see how you can ever doubt that" dad told me quietly, leaning in to kiss me on the forehead before adding: "Please enjoy yourself".

I gave no reply but just averted my face so that he wouldn't see how the fear and anxiety had possessed every part of my brain. I climbed out, and jogged towards the entrance, willing the day to end quickly. I got my schedule for the day and a slip I had to get signed by all my teachers from the receptionist, before making my way to my first class: biology.

I entered the class and tried to make my way to a seat by the window inconspicuously. Well, as inconspicuously as I could with every head in the room inclined in my direction, I sat down by a girl with short, shoulder length, black hair and dull grey eyes. As I sat down, she looked up at me and smiled timidly. She seemed shy, that was good then, she wouldn't jabber on with small talk, forcing me to talk. I preferred to talk when I felt like it and anyone who decided to ignore my feelings would only hear me sinking my fist into them breaking their bones.

"Hello" I said politely to the girl next to me; I wanted to make a good impression on my first day, and mom and grandma Esme were always telling me to remember my manners.

"Hi, are you new here?" the girl asked hesitantly as though I were going to amputate her arm if she said more than one line at a time. Well, if I was angry, then I wouldn't blame her for making that assumption, uncle Emmet was always teasing me about how I'd inherited my mom's temper.

"Yes, I'm Renesmee but everyone else calls me Nessie" I informed the girl.

"I'm Monica" the girl responded, her grey eyes twinkling, turning a more bluer shade, as she smiled at me.

"It's very nice to meet you, Monica" I replied courteously.

"I'm afraid you're in for a long year as the work can get pretty hard, plus we have James Halverson in our class who is the biggest pervert ever, he might try something on you as you're a new girl " Monica warned me.

"I'm sure I'll survive" I answered, fighting a smile at the thought of a pervert ever being a threat to me. Everyone would be pretty enraged if they ever heard of someone daring to even look at me. Uncle Emmet would most likely be excited to have found an excuse to pulverise something, of course he would be angry, and backed up by uncle Jasper and dad who would all be beyond enraged, not that I would be unable to handle a pervert myself.

"Hey there gorgeous" I heard a voice leer at me. I looked up to see an average height guy with dirty blonde hair framing his sharp featured face. He had black depthless eyes, and was rather scrawny. His eyes looked over my entire body hungrily and I suddenly felt furious.

"Uh-oh, looks like James is trying to make a move with you" Monica mumbled in an undertone.

"You sure you're in the right place, because I think_ I_ could guide you back to where you belong which is heaven, and I could stay right there with you" James said to me, his eyes, once again, roving every feature of my body.

"If I'm from heaven, then why the hell should I be guided back by some…thing that's just crawled out from the sewers?" I snapped back, infuriated.

James just grinned and took a step forward which just enraged me further which seemed impossible to me before but now it took all my restraint to avoid leaping up from my seat and break every bone in his body. I'd already insulted him and he just refused to take the rejection, now that was crossing the line. I knew that sending one of my class mates wouldn't give a very good first impression. But James continued to come closer and closer to me.

"James, if you don't back off right this instant, then you'll find your back smashing into a million pieces against the gate of hell" I snarled angrily, with so much menace that I saw James falter slightly in his advance, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Monica cower against the window. James hesitated a bit before smiling and leaning over towards me, a detached part of my brain that wasn't frozen over by rage wondered idly if this moron would've dared to make such a move if he caught sight of my uncle Emmet, then again maybe it would be better if uncle Emmet never heard of this; for the sake of all the buildings in Forks.

I was alternating between giving him an agonising Chinese burn or breaking his arm, when I got a better idea, one that wouldn't get me in trouble. I grasped the edge of the table and lifted it so slightly so that Monica wouldn't notice, then I let go of it, so that it fell right on top of James's foot. He yelled in pain and attempted to remove his foot, but ended up slipping and falling sprawled out on the floor, on his back.

"Jeez, what happened to Halverson?" a boy with untidy brown hair asked as he walked in the class, and in front James's feet, who was groaning loudly.

"I don't know, he probably slipped and fell because he was too busy looking at things he shouldn't be looking at" I answered, feeling slightly smug with the fact that the sounds of pain coming from James was because of me.

"Who are you?" the boy asked, finally looking at me, his eyes widening as he did. This wasn't completely unusual; me and my family were used to this reaction from humans. We all appeared beautiful to all the humans.

"I'm Renesmee, I just started here today" I answered.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Josh" Josh smiled at me before walking towards his seat as the teacher walked in and told everyone to sit down. James managed to peel himself off the floor; he shot me one venomous glare which I returned with even poison. The day after that was quite uneventful, but also kind of relieving as I found that all of my family had been right, my worries seemed quite silly now. Monica was quite cordial and friendly and requested me to sit with her and her friends in the cafeteria, though I couldn't remember the names of all her friends.

I was finally glad when school ended and I was permitted to leave. I really wanted to go down to La Push and visit Jacob, it felt like ages since I'd talked to him. I left the school and walked down to the parking lot to wait for my dad to arrive so that he could drop me off to La push. Yes, my first day at high school was over, and I hadn't had to suffer any pain. I laughed as I realised this, and I didn't want to stop.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"What's so funny?" I heard a voice asks as I continued to laugh. I looked up to see dad smiling at me. I surmised that he was glad to see me happy rather than nervous like this morning.

"I'm laughing because I realised that I had been nervous about nothing which means you were right which hardly ever happens" I teased light- heartedly.

"Alright then, get in the car" dad grinned back. I smiled before sauntering up to the passenger seat of his Volvo. I slid in whilst dad did the same and started the engine. Then we were speeding along the road.

"Dad, can you drop me off at La Push? I haven't seen Jake in ages."

Dad nodded, and continued to drive fast effortlessly. I was normally happy with the speed he drove at, although mom hated it when he drove more than sixty mph, she was the only one in our family who hated to drive fast. She was always teasing dad about how he drove like a maniac. I, however, relished in the acceleration of dad's speedy driving, but today, was dissatisfied by it. He wasn't going fast enough; I badly wanted to tell Jacob all about my day at my new high school.

We finally arrived at the reservation and I saw Jacob standing a few feet away from the treaty line, waiting for me, my heart leaped with joy as I took in all of his six feet. He grinned at me as dad pulled the car to a stop. He waved at dad as he waited for me to get out and walk over to him. I leaned in towards dad so that I could give him a peck on the cheek before getting out of the car, but then I saw the small frown on his face, as though he were pondering something extremely unpleasant.

"Dad, what's wrong?" I enquired softly.

"Nothing is wrong" he answered, although the glare he was aiming at Jacob contradicted his words. I couldn't understand that, dad and Jacob got on so well normally, like they weren't just friends, but brothers. So where was this hostility in dad's gaze at Jacob coming from?

"Dad, is there something going on that I should know about?" I enquired stiffly; I hated secrets, unless I was in on them.

Dad tore his gaze away from Jacob, grinning as he did so, it looked like whatever problem he had had with Jacob, he had resolved as quickly as it had risen.

"The answer is probably yes, but I think that Jacob is the person to ask this question, Nessie" dad grinned at me, he seemed to be holding back raucous laughter, as his shoulders were shaking with silent laughter, and his face seemed to be fighting a wide grin.

"Dad…"

"Go on, Renesmee, Jacob is waiting for you and your mom will be expecting us home, well me to explain where you are" dad urged me, wanting to get me out of the car, no doubt, so that he can laugh freely at his secret joke. Dad rolled his eyes as he heard that last thought, well; good he heard that, he knows it's true. Dad just looked at me, telling me wordlessly that it's rude to keep Jacob waiting. I grumbled a bit as I got out of the car, disliking the fact that he had escaped my interrogation, but he was right, it was rude of me to keep Jacob waiting for me.

"Hey, Ness, I thought you were never going to leave your dad, I never knew you loved him that much, I thought it was only your mother who can't bear to be away from him" Jacob teased as he wrapped his big, long arms around me to envelop me in a warm hug.

"Sorry about that, I was just begging him not to make me visit you and just drive me back home instead" I goaded.

"You know you love me really" he shot back.

"Yeah, I just adore the way you irritate me to death" I answered sardonically.

Jacob laughed as he grabbed my hand and pulled me down to sit by him.

"So, how was school?" Jacob asked.

"Pretty uneventful" I answered.

"What?! You mean there weren't any riots, or traffic jams as everyone stared at you, not even any wars between any boys" Jacob enquired in mock surprise.

This question of his, asked just for the fun of annoying me, brought back some memories bubbling to the surface.

However, I wasn't about to share my confrontation with James with Jacob, if uncles Emmet, and Jasper, along with dad would begin to plan James's execution, Jacob would be the one to launch the attack, hell, he probably wouldn't even plan it, he'd just lead the attack straight away. However, Jacob could tell that I was hiding something from him, from my expression, I guess, because as I thought of my encounter with James, I was abruptly livid.

"Nessie, what's wrong? I was joking before, you know." Jacob said, his face pinched with worry as he took in my furious expression. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself.

"I'm fine, I know you were joking, Jake." I responded, once I was sure I was calm.

"Jeez Nessie, with your unstable temper, you would think that you're the werewolf around here" Jacob chortled.

I nodded, not really listening to what he was saying. I was still slightly angry with the memory of James.

"Seriously, Ness, what's wrong? You look like you're going to murder someone" Jacob observed, peering anxiously at my face.

"It's nothing, Jake, don't worry" I answered automatically, wishing he didn't know me so well that he could tell my every thought and emotion just by my facial expressions.

"No, it's not 'nothing', you're obviously furious about something" Jacob argued.

"It doesn't matter anyway. I can take care of myself" I snapped angrily.

"I know that, Nessie, but it's kind of annoying to see your angry expression when I don't know the reason behind it" Jacob explained patiently.

"There's a very good reason as to why you don't know about why I'm so angry, and that is that when I tell you, you'll just get involved without my permission" I replied furiously. How could he not know this? He should know very well that anything that angered or upset me always meant to him that he had to get involved. I mean, this was him we were talking about, he should know himself better than anybody.

"Fine, I promise that I won't get involved" Jacob told me with obvious sincerity.

I glared at him suspiciously: "You really promise not to get involved" I clarified.

"Scout's honour" he said, holding up three fingers.

"You weren't ever a scout, I never even knew Forks had any scouts" I scoffed.

"You're right, but I really do promise not to get involved" Jacob vowed.

"Fine, I got mauled by some ugly pervert of a git. Even though I dropped a table on his worthless toe, and probably bruised it right to the bone which should make him think twice before he decides to try one again on me, I will most definitely kick his worthless arse right to Australia if he ever so much as looks in my direction" I ranted furiously.

"Well, if he ever tries again, your dad and I will kick him further than Australia, probably out of the solar system, or maybe even further" Jacob replied.

"You promise not to get involved" I asked him suspiciously.

"I promise, besides, I think you handled that pretty well by yourself" Jacob remarked.

I shrugged.

"Renesmee, there's something I need to talk to you about" Jacob began hesitantly.

"Sure, Jake, what is it?" I questioned, curious as to why he didn't just say whatever he needed to straight away.

"Well…" Jake began, but was cut off by the sound of my mother's voice.

"Nessie, there you are" mom sighed in relief.

"Mom, what are you doing here beyond the treaty line?" I asked, vampires were forbidden to come to the reservation beach. Technically I wasn't completely a vampire, which was why I was allowed here, but what was so important that mom felt obliged to break the treaty?

"Renesmee, you need to come home with me" mom told me commandingly.

"But why? I always spend much longer here with Jacob" I replied, completely bewildered.

"We're going hunting so I came to get you" mom answered.

"But we just went hunting yesterday" I disputed, why had mom crossed the treaty line just to insist that I come hunting with them when we didn't need to go hunting. Me, along with Mom, dad, Auntie Alice, and Uncle Jasper just went hunting yesterday to ensure that when I walked into the midst of humans today, I wouldn't be thirsty, therefore I would be able to resist more effectively.

"Yes, but we can go for some extra meal, who says vampires can't have deserts" mom replied, at which Jacob snorted derisively. I couldn't blame him , mom wasn't making any sense right now.

"Mom, can vampires go mad?" I enquired, seriously worried about her sanity.

Mom rolled her eyes and just gestured for me to follow her.

"Bella, you really shouldn't be here, you could get into a lot of trouble, not to mention start a war, you're just lucky I'm here that I can pretend this didn't happen" Jacob scolded mom.

"Oh please Jacob, do you think that if I wasn't completely sure that you'd be here, that I would've dared to cross the line?" mom challenged Jacob, glaring at him. Honestly what was going on today, earlier on, dad had been doing the same thing, but then he had laughed and said Jacob would explain. Where was this hostility from my parents towards Jacob coming from all of a sudden? I thought they were all like a family.

Jacob analysed mom's face before turning sombre as he slowly said, as though he were being careful about each word he uttered: "You didn't need to come here, Bells, if not today, it has to happen some day".

"It will happen when I feel it is the right time, Jacob, not when you are desperate to end your wait" mom retorted angrily.

"You know it's not like that, Bella" Jacob argued, almost pleadingly.

I couldn't make any sense of their conversation which was really frustrating, they might as well just pretend I wasn't there listening. Mom grabbed my hand and yanked me away from Jacob, and dragged me to the other side of the treaty line where dad was waiting in his car. He was wearing a rather amused expression as he watched mom drag me towards him whilst my face was quite blank. I let her drag me, there was no point arguing with her, as I felt kind of tired, and the only way that an argument with my mom would ever end is if you let her win.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Mom, we went hunting yesterday" I reminded mom as I sat in the back seat of the Volvo dad was driving. I had let mom drag me to the car but that didn't that I understood mom's insanity.

"I know, but Carlisle, Rosalie, Esme and Emmet haven't been hunting yet" mom replied.

"So, they are all perfectly capable of hunting by themselves, since when were we their babysitters?" I retorted in exasperation. Mom was definitely lying to me about something. She had never suggested anything so ludicrous before, none of us had ever felt any compulsion to go hunting as a family, so why did mom feel that her, me and dad had to accompany everyone else and if the case was that she wanted us all to go as a family then why weren't auntie Alice and uncle Jasper coming with us? Yes, mom was lying to me about something, she was hiding something from me; a secret and that is something I hate.

"What is it, mom? What are you hiding?" I demanded of mom.

"Nothing, Renesmee, why would you jump to that conclusion?" mom replied, scowling.

"I know you're hiding something from me, mom, don't bother even trying to lie to me" I retaliated angrily.

"Bella, love, maybe you should tell her, she knows you're lying to her" dad said to mom in an undertone, not meaning for me to hear, but unfortunately I heard anyway.

"Mom" I growled. My anger rising as I saw mom's stubbornness deciding not to tell me anything.

"Bella" dad sighed quietly, again, not meaning for me to hear. I guess I was more sensitive to all the sounds around me today.

"Edward, don't even try to argue with me about this, my mind is made up" mom informed dad adamantly.

"Bella, she'll find out some day, sooner or later, wouldn't you rather it be sooner coming from you rather than someone else" dad disputed, seeming to forget I was there, listening.

"I know, Edward, and I will tell her myself when the time is right and the time is certainly not right at this moment" mom argued back. The shock this remark caused me suddenly erased all my rising anger as I realised that whatever mom and dad were hiding from me was something that directly involved me.

"Bella, are you sure that you're not just procrastinating the moment when you have to tell her?" dad queried shrewdly.

"Edward, I promise you that that is not the case" mom answered tetchily. Dad said nothing in response, and I could tell that he didn't believe mom, but he said nothing as he pulled up in the garage by the big white house that aside from me, mom and dad, all the Cullens lived in. Mom, dad and I didn't exactly live in the tiny, stone cottage that was nestled in a clearing within the forest; we just had our bedrooms in there which we used only for the night. Well, I used my bedroom to sleep in during the night, as vampires, mom and dad didn't sleep at all so they didn't quite use their room in the same way I did, I shuddered, I didn't want to let my thoughts travel down that path, especially with dad within hearing range. Anyway, during the daytime hours, mom, dad, and I hung about with the rest of the Cullens in their huge, beautiful, white house.

"So, what do we now that we've reached the end of your little hunting act?" I glowered at mom. Dad laughed as I saw right through mom, sometimes mom was so transparent that she might as well be glass.

"You don't want to go hunting" mom enquired, raising an eyebrow at me. I rolled my eyes, when was she going to drop the pretence, for god's sake?

"Nessie, maybe it would be a good idea if you went hunting today, as a precaution" dad suggested. I stopped my glowering contest with mom to consider dad's suggestion. It was true that I didn't find resisting all the temptation around me in school half as hard as I thought I would, but it wouldn't hurt to just take some precautions in order to decrease the risks to a minimum. I nodded to dad to show my agreement, mom smirked in satisfaction, happy that she got her way, for once, I suppose. Dad grinned at me when he heard that thought, I just rolled my eyes at him theatrically causing him to have to fight laughter.

"So, I take it you have all decided to join us, then?" Grandpa Carlisle asked us as he walked out the house, followed closely by Grandma Esme, Aunts Alice and Rosalie, along with uncles, Emmet and Jasper.

"You're all coming hunting?" I enquired incredulously, my eyebrows halfway up my forehead.

Auntie Alice laughed: "Jasper felt thirsty, he wasn't really into the hunt yesterday, and so didn't get much out of it. I told him he'd feel thirsty today, but does he ever listen?" she complained, shaking her head.

"And you know how much I love the bear season, bring on the grizzlies!" Uncle Emmet exclaimed excitedly. I laughed along with everyone else, uncle Emmet acted so much like a kid sometimes, that I sometimes felt like he was the one who had just stopped maturing rather than me. It wasn't that I was unhappy hunting with my whole family, on the contrary I was thrilled to hunt with all the people I love for the first time, it was more the fact that I felt this was all happening because they wanted to hide something from me.

"Well, can we go already before Emmet wets himself trying to stop himself from running on ahead?" Auntie Rosalie questioned jokingly. We all laughed again as uncle Emmet scowled at auntie Rose, then before uncle Emmet really did do something silly in his impatience, we all began to race forward towards the centre of the forest, making absolutely no noise as our feet hit the ground again and again.

We all stopped suddenly in the forest, once we were sure that we were deep enough, and allowed our senses to roam outwards into the air, searching for some prey. I crouched forward and crept forward slightly, eastward. I then caught the scent of some deer some distance away, I crouched forward and darted towards the scent of the deer's blood, staying close to the ground. I continued to fly forward when I suddenly felt a different instinct demand my attention. The familiar sense of self-preservation told me that I was being pursued.

I skidded to a halt as I swivelled around, my eyes ranging around my surroundings as they sought my pursuer. My ears listening for any sound, then I heard it. A rush of wind as something hurtled through the air towards me; I whirled around in time to see a huge dark thing falling towards me, I had just enough time to throw a good kick with all the force in my leg at the thing. The thing grunted as it smashed into a nearby tree. But no sooner had I straightened up then the thing got up and tackled me to the ground.

It was in that instant that I realised that this was a vampire attacking me. I had blood running through my veins so obviously a carnivorous vampire would think of me as their ideal meal. But I wasn't about to give in, I wasn't some weak human unable to fight back; I had enough vampire in me to try to pulverise this monster. I kneed him in the stomach, obviously he couldn't quite feel pain, being a vampire, and he would be more stone than flesh, but I kneed him just hard enough to distract him so that I can push him off of me.

I quickly pulled myself of the ground where he tackled me as he did the same. Before he could properly stand upright, I grabbed a nearby branch and pulled it backwards so that it would swing forwards with extreme force, just like I had hoped; the branch swung forwards and hit my attacker in the middle causing him to fly into the air backwards. As soon as I saw the branch hit him, I turned around and fled the way I came. I couldn't fight him, he was stronger than me, and I was part human after all so I had that much vulnerability in my system.

I only wanted to reach my family before my pursuer could catch up with me again. But, I didn't know where anyone was, how was I supposed to find them? Surely, Auntie Alice would've seen the future and know that I could be in danger right now. Of course, the future only became clear to Auntie Alice when a decision was made, and no decisions had been made right now, unless I decide to call for help, either auntie Alice will see a vision that might tell her that I'm in danger, or if I get close enough to him, dad will hear me calling for help within my mind. I wasn't going to use my voice, which would only tell my pursuer where I was.

"_Dad, mom, anyone, please help me, a carnivorous vampire is trying to go for my throat, I can't fight him, he's too strong, please help me! Help!" _I thought frantically as I continued to sprint as fast as the wind. I kept shouting pleas for help in my mind as I ran desperately when I heard a sound that interrupted my internal, repeated cries for help; the rush of wind, and the soft thud of footfalls on the ground as someone chased me through the forest. I swiftly grabbed hold of a low tree branch and used it as a trapeze to launch my self higher into the tree. I continued to climb the tree until I was at the very top; I launched myself on to the branch of the neighbouring tree, and continued my escape that way, hoping that this change of route might deter my attacker.

Then, so suddenly that I didn't have time to plan my next move, I felt something crash into me from behind. Then we were both falling through the air as he tackled me, not realising in his thirst that we had been on the tops of the trees. We plummeted towards the ground; he locked my arms and legs in a chokehold so that I wouldn't be able to try anything else. I realised that this was the end, there was no way I could fight him, and he was much too strong. I felt my back land on the ground; I closed my eyes tight, hoping that death wouldn't be too painful. I could feel his breath on my throat as he leaned in closer. I didn't open my eyes, not wanting to see the face of the monster that would kill me in a couple of seconds, terror froze every muscle in my body, and I refused to open my eyes.

Then, I felt the constricting grip around me slacken ever so slightly, and then suddenly it was gone, was I dead? It had been so quick that I never even felt anything; I heard the sound of fists cracking some bones. Surely I wasn't dead then if I could hear that, unless I was in hell, funny, I'd always imagined hell a place of torture. But then I felt my self being wrenched off the ground so fast it made my head spin, which forced me to open my eyes. The first thing I saw was my mother's face, her eyes glistening with the tears she couldn't shed, her expression was so relieved that I felt immediately confused.

My mom couldn't die, so how was she here with me, she smiled before enveloping me in a warm embrace. It was then that I heard the thrashing and the kicking, and groaning; I looked over mom's shoulder and gasped. I wasn't dead, because if I was, aunts Alice and Rose wouldn't be looking at me with the same relieved expressions that mom had had, and Uncles Emmet and Jasper most certainly wouldn't have a handsome, half-crazed vampire pinned against a tree, whose nose was bleeding, and was staring at me with a slightly demented look in his eye.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

I squirmed out of mom's grip, but let her keep one arm around me as I could tell that she was so relieved for the moment that I wasn't…well, dead, I guess. I took in the scene in front of me with profound surprise. Grandpa Carlisle was standing next to Uncle Emmet- he seemed to be trying to calm everyone down through words, he hated violence- Grandma Esme was standing next to me, her expression worried, and her eyes flickering to me and then to the majority of the family who was trying to control my attacker. Dad, aunts Rosalie and Alice were standing in front of me, as if they were shielding me from some danger. I knew, instantly, what that danger was; my attacker who had been so close to draining my body of blood, but had been somehow interrupted by my family.

I looked at mom: "Mom, what happened? I was about to die and then you guys came" I questioned, feeling hopelessly confused. Mom just shook her head without looking at me; she was glaring at the vampire who was thrashing around, attempting to escape Uncles Emmet and Jasper's grip, but without much success. I craned my neck to look around dad- who was directly in front of me and mom- to gaze at my pursuer.

He had thick, black curls that reached the bottom of the nape of his neck, almost touching reaching past his shoulders; he had eyes that even whilst crazed appeared deep with intellect and emotion, they were black with thirst, well I couldn't really tell by looking at his eyes if he were thirsty, it didn't seem like his eyes could be affected by his diet like most vampires, I suppose it was the dark shadows beneath his eyes that told me he was thirsty. His skin was like white alabaster, however, unlike most vampires, his skin seemed to have a rose undertone, his features were smooth and perfect, his lips soft and pale pink as they parted over his perfect, even, white teeth that made me shudder as I examined their sharpness. He was tall and leonine, he wasn't muscle, but he wasn't scrawny, it was more like his strong, capable limbs jus didn't have any meat or flesh to them. He was quite tall, about a couple of inches taller than Uncles Emmet and Jasper.

He stopped struggling and went limp against the tree that Uncle Emmet had pinned him against. His facial expression smoothed over and he no longer looked crazy, the intelligence that was evident in his deep, black eyes could now be detected in every feature in his face. He looked more mature and wise, as though he were as wise and old as Grandpa Carlisle. Now that he had removed that mask of dementia from his face, I could finally see how beautiful he actually was. His deep, dark eyes surveyed all of us over Uncle Emmet's massive, muscular arms, his gaze lingering on my face for a fraction longer than anyone else. I glared at him, not afraid to make eye contact; I wasn't scared of him, why should I be?

"What are you looking at?" I snapped angrily at him when he still didn't avert his gaze from me.

"Just at what could have been a delicious lunch" he answered, grinning. I felt shock cross my face at his lack of shame or embarrassment. He had just tried to eat me and had had his best efforts slain by about six other vampires who, for all he knew, might just murder him for trying to hurt me, and here he was, right in front of those murderously angry vampires, talking about how much he wishes for my death as if I were some sort of ice cream that he had just dropped on the floor by mistake. The glower I had been aiming at him now transformed into a murderous glare. I couldn't see dad's face, but he took a couple of steps forward as if he wanted to crush that vampire's skull, however, grandma Esme gripped dad's arm and whispered "No", whilst a ferocious snarl escaped mom's bared teeth.

Uncle Emmet's grip on the vampire must've tightened because the vampire gasped as though he were in pain. He endeavoured to lift his hands but failed as Uncle Jasper had them pinned behind the tree which looked pretty uncomfortable to me. He looked at dad who was in front of me and poised in a crouch that told everyone quite clearly that if anyone irritated him, that would be the last thing that person would ever do.

"Easy there, I won't do anything, I swear, just let me go before my arms fall off" he moaned.

Grandpa Carlisle looked at uncle Jasper and I saw Uncle Jasper nod slightly. I knew straight away what was going on. Grandpa Carlisle was asking Uncle Jasper to manipulate the vampire's mood.

"No" dad growled, whilst mom's grip on me tightened: "He stays right where he is".

No one dared to argue with dad as he sounded homicidal, and if anyone was looking in my direction, they would see that mom looked like she was really restraining herself from ripping the vampire to shreds. I guess they were both still pretty mad at the vampire for trying to have me for lunch, but it wasn't as though I was feeling very warm to the vampire either.

"You won't murder me, will you? I was on a hunt, I caught her scent, the instinct was too strong to fight, you can't be telling me that when you guys hunt, you let reason and rationality rule you. I caught the scent of her blood and decided to take her, of course it's only now that after having seen her put up a fight that I realise she's not quite human" the vampire debated, no hint of fear, or desperation in his beautifully, clear, commanding voice. This was a voice that a leader of angels would have. His dark eyes flickered from dad as he said the last part, curiosity lighting his black eyes, along with every other marvellous feature of his face.

"I don't care what your excuse is, but you deserve to die for even thinking of hurting my daughter" mom snarled menacingly at the vampire.

The vampire's eyes widened with surprise as he listened to mom's words. "You are her mother, but how is that possible when you are clearly a vampire?" the vampire queried, upon which mom growled.

"That is none of your concern" dad snapped at the vampire.

"Of course not, just morbid curiosity getting the better of me" the vampire laughed. He seemed completely fearless as though he knew that all of us Cullens would never kill any living thing, although mom and dad's livid expressions contradicted that fact, but they wouldn't really kill him, they were just angry that he'd even dared to pursue me.

"Though being pinned to a tree is not how I ever envisioned an introduction: I am Draco, I would say that I'm pleased to meet you but maybe that's the wrong sentiment" Draco chuckled as his eyes observed the furious expressions on my family's faces.

"Jazz, Em, you can let go off him, he's not going to do anything. I can see that very clearly" Auntie Alice piped up. Everyone stared at her, except for me as I was staring at the vampire, Draco. He was staring at Auntie Alice, but not in the same way as everyone else; like Auntie Alice had gone mad or something. He was staring at Auntie Alice as though he was trying to figure out some puzzle about her. I felt the strangest urge to go press my fingers to his forehead, a desperate yearning to show him my gift.

I had no idea where this yearning had come from. But suddenly, I couldn't tear my gaze away from this strange vampire, Draco, who had almost killed me. I wanted to smooth out that crease between his eyebrows that was a result from the curiosity he felt, I don't know how, but I knew that he was curious as if I had Uncle Jasper's gift. He was desperately curious, I could both see and sense that and I wanted to quench that curiosity by using my gift to show him all the answers to all of his questions. As I thought of all this, my gaze was locked on his beautiful face, wishing that I could use my talent on him. It was then, as if he knew that I had been thinking about him, he turned his head to meet my eyes. I gazed at him and he returned my gaze with such intensity that I could see my own chocolate brown eyes reflected in his own black ones as though his eyes were a shimmering, reflective pool of water.

He continued to gaze at me intensely as though he wanted to show _me _what _he _was thinking; surely that was just my imagination. We both continued to gaze at each other intensely, but then a stunning smile slowly spread across his lovely face, and I don't know why or how, but that mad me blush and look away. Uncles Emmet and Jasper finally let Draco go, I guess I missed all of the conversation that had occurred between the whole of my family. I had been so lost in Draco's gaze, weird, but it felt like I had made some strange connection with him.

"It's a good thing I'm a vampire, otherwise, you guys would've cut off my circulation with the way you had been holding my arms" Draco joked light-heartedly. No one laughed, though I couldn't help grinning just a little bit, I mean, it was sort of funny.

"Are you planning to hunt here much longer?" auntie Rosalie asked rudely, implying that he wasn't welcome to doing that.

"Well, maybe, I hadn't had any specific plans on where to hunt, I was just sort of roaming around, unaware of where I was heading. It's been a while since I've had anyone to talk to" Draco explained nonchalantly. I was shocked, what sort of life, well, existence, was that? Just roaming around without a purpose, all alone, just attacking humans for lunch. It sounded like a rather miserable existence to me; I frowned as I tried to comprehend what it must be like to exist that way. Draco looked up from the ground, and saw my expression at what he just said; I guess my thoughts were pretty clear on my face as he said, speaking only to me:

"It's not that bad, once in a while, I do manage to get a pretty good lunch, some humans have some rather delicious blood in them. Plus, it got pretty interesting today, it's not often, I meet prey that puts up as good a fight as you".

Mom and dad and scowled at his words, but I was intrigued by what he was saying. Draco seemed like a rather mysterious and intelligent individual, that's not to mention independent. I couldn't stay mad at him as he seemed to have been alone for most of his existence, so how could he have developed a conscience? Besides, it wasn't as though he was trying to attack me right now; on the contrary, he seemed to be animated by the thought of conversation, the thought of socialising with us. I could see that his black eyes cackled with intelligence, and I wanted to get to know him some more, learn more about him. I could see that Grandpa Carlisle also found Draco vaguely interesting.

"Draco, if you promise not to harm Renesmee in any way, perhaps you could come to our house and we could all socialise a bit more" Grandpa Carlisle offered. I knew straight away why Grandpa Carlisle wanted to talk with Draco, he didn't like the thought of Draco hunting any humans, and he was hoping that he might be able to convince Draco to adapt to our way of living. However, Auntie Rosalie hissed, implying that Draco was anything but welcome to our home, mom, dad, and Uncle Emmet looked doubtful about whether or not Grandpa Carlisle's offer was the wisest idea. However, I really wanted Draco to agree so that I could learn more about him.

"Maybe some other time. I'm really thirsty at the moment and I need to satisfy my thirst. I'll stick around a bit more and get back to you on that offer, but some introductions would do very nicely" Draco replied, smiling pleasantly, as though he was really pleased with Grandpa Carlisle's offer.

"Right. I am Carlisle, and this is my family, Esme, Emmet, Rosalie, Jasper, Alice, Edward, Bella, and Renesmee" Grandpa Carlisle responded, indicating who was who, by pointing at each of us. Draco's gaze lingered on my face when Grandpa Carlisle introduced me, and he smiled pleasantly at me. The way he smiled at me, you would never think that just a while ago he had attempted to drain my body of all blood.

"Well, it was certainly an interesting experience meeting all of you, I look forward to seeing you all again" Draco beamed at all of us, looking more angelic than anything I had ever seen, and then he walked away. We all watched his retreating figure until we could no longer see him, then mom gripped me tighter and we all ran out of the forest. Yes, this was definitely not a hunting trip I was going to forget in a hurry.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Guys, how did you all find me in time?" I questioned in a bewildered tone. We were all back at our huge, white house, finally safe within the interior. Although, I guess a vampire would still be able to break through the door, but then again, we Cullens didn't have that many enemies who were aggressive to that extreme, so really there was no chance we could be overheard, if that was the reason why everyone had refused to answer my question until now.

"Maybe, we'll talk about all of this later, Nessie" mom replied. Oh no, she was NOT going to escape my question like she had before. I knew she'd rather not think about how close I'd been to death. But that wasn't my main concern now, I was alive and how close I'd come to not being just that held no importance to me at the moment seeing as I'd survived.

"Alice saw a vision and knew you could be in danger" dad answered quietly.

"And almost lost my mind over what I saw" Aunt Alice whispered before shuddering, her face was already as pale as it could be, given she was a vampire, but her lips went white and a fearful blaze clouded her eyes for a moment. Although I knew all of my family must have been panic stricken once they had comprehended the potential danger I was in, I realised it could have been nothing compared to what Auntie Alice-and dad who must've seen it as she thought of it – must have felt seeing a vision in her mind's eye of the future that would have followed if Draco had killed me before they could arrive. I suddenly felt remorseful of Auntie Alice's pain and walked over to Auntie Alice to give her a hug to at least ease some of her pain.

"Yeah, she just froze, and we knew she must've seen something so we waited for her to snap out of it and tell us what she'd seen, she did eventually, but then she said your name, gasped and started sobbing. She was hysterical; we couldn't get any sense out of because she was crying so hard, all we could hear was her sobbing your name over and over again. She was…" Uncle Emmet explained before uncle Jasper cut him off:

"Shut it, Emmet" Uncle Jasper growled with a pained look on his face. I knew that remembering Auntie Alice's pain caused uncle Jasper anguish; he loved her so much that he hated seeing her as anything but happy; Auntie Alice's pain was his pain. I felt terrible upon realising the terror and worry I'd caused my family. I looked up at each of their faces, hoping that they could see the remorse and regret on my face and understand how sorry I was.

"I'm sorry, everyone, I didn't want you all to worry so much, you shouldn't have to worry about me when you're hunting" I apologised, feeling guilty as Auntie Alice buried her head into my shoulder as she were trying to convince herself that I really was still alive. Grandma Esme opened her mouth as she were going to say something but was interrupted by Auntie Rosalie.

"Why should you apologise? It's not as though you had walked into the forest and begged that leech to become vampire chow" Auntie Rosalie hissed contemptuously, the thought of Draco angering her, no doubt. I felt a sudden urge to defend Draco as if he were completely justified in his temptation to have me for lunch, how odd; I held my tongue, not wanting to further infuriate Auntie Rosalie.

"So auntie Alice saw a vision, then what?" I questioned, wanting to steer the subject away from Draco.

"We were all really confused but then Edward growled and shouted for us all to find you, that you were in trouble. We all split up and went looking for you. I went with Edward, Carlisle, and Rose, whilst Alice went with Esme, Bella and Jasper, and I don't know what happened with everyone else, but we were all just racing around the forest until Edward told us that he'd just heard you call for help somewhere from the east. So that's where we were headed, Edward was starting to get real edgy because he said he couldn't hear you anymore, but then we picked up your scent and we kept running until we saw you get tackled to the ground, it looked like that Draco or whatever was about to take a bite out of your throat so I quickly just grabbed him off you, he seemed kinda surprised at first, but when he realised he was about to lose you, he started to put up a fight, one of the weakest vampires I'd ever fought, beside from you, but you're part human, so I suppose that don't really count…" Uncle Emmet's narration of the incident was in danger of moving onto a more trivial topic; one that I wasn't interested in, nor cared about.

Uncle Jasper seemed to sense my irritation with that extra talent of his because he then continued to narrate the story from where Uncle Emmet left off: "Anyway, Alice, Esme, Bella and I were searching for you, when we found your scent, along with Edward, Carlisle, Rose's and Emmet's, so we figured, we'd better follow it, and that was when we saw you get tackled by Draco. Emmet pulled him off you and pinned him to the tree, and well, you know the rest" uncle Jasper finished with a shrug.

"When I saw you on the ground, still, white, I was so worried that he might have hurt you, I thought that I might have been too late" mom murmured, her eyes glistening, once again, glistening with the tears that she couldn't shed. Auntie Alice let out a tiny, muffled sob into my shoulder, I wanted to go comfort mom as well, but I felt that Auntie Alice needed me more. This only caused my remorse to deepen.

"Maybe, it would've been better if you guys just never came, I'm too weak, and I can never be able to defend myself adequately enough. If I died today, you guys would never have to worry about me…" I trailed off at the livid expressions on the majority of my family's faces.

"Don't you ever talk like that again, you understand me" dad snarled at me. I looked down so that dad wouldn't be able to see the solitary tear that trickled down my cheek. He didn't understand why I said that, it wasn't a cowardly act; I hated causing my family pain, they may have saved me today, but what about tomorrow, or the day after, or sometime in the future. I knew they would insist on taking precautions, but that would mean more tension, more worry, more trouble on their part, and I didn't want that, I wanted to be able to take care of myself, but how could the vulnerable human part of me ever allow that?

No one understood, not even Jacob. He was my best friend, he always knew my every emotion and wish, and he was always there for me. But that didn't mean he necessarily he always understood? His every action and word concerning me was only to accommodate me; like his life wasn't important to him as though I were the only thing tying him to the world. I never quite understood this affection he held for me, but then again, no one really understood me, I wish there was someone I could talk to who could relate and empathise. But I knew that was never going to happen.

"Nessie, I didn't mean it like that, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry" dad pleaded as he came over to sit by me on the sofa to wipe the tear off my cheek.

"Renesmee, it's not about causing us trouble. You are the most important thing to me ever, I can't live without you" mom stated, staring intensely at me, for some reason her gaze made me think of the intense way in which Draco had stared at me. I was aware of the emotional tension within the room and it made me uncomfortable.

"What about dad? Would you live without him?" I challenged mom, trying to lighten the mood.

"Of course not, if you left this world, I would take Edward with me and follow you soon after" mom answered, smiling a little, but I knew, as well as everyone else in the room, that she was serious when she said that. This didn't ease my guilt one bit.

"Renesmee, you are our family and we love you, even if you were able to save yourself today, we would all still feel protective of you" Grandma Esme stated as she walked towards the sofa I was wedged on in between dad and Auntie Alice- who seemed to be recovering- to kneel on the floor in front of me as she hugged my shoulders. I felt a lump in my throat which meant I was in serious danger of crying, something that I rarely did, I'd never realised just how much my family loved me, it made me feel proud to be a Cullen, but I didn't want to cry!

"I'm feeling really tired, I think I want to go to bed" I told everyone. Mom and dad nodded before getting up to walk me back to our cottage in the forest. I had no idea what the time was, but I felt exhausted, and I just wanted to go to sleep. I turned around to face my family just at the frame of the door:

"Thanks for being…such a great family, and I want you all to know that I love you all so much from the bottom of my heart" I informed all of them. Every face of my wonderfully, loving family beamed at me as I walked out of the house with my parents to my bedroom in the small cottage in the forest.

*

I walked to school slowly, taking my time, I refused a ride in dad's car, he insisted I might get tired, I insisted I wouldn't, I'm not precisely sure how I won that one. I pondered the events of the previous day, how odd, in the morning; I had only been worried of what might happen at school that I didn't consider if anything else would transpire.

"Hey there, beautiful" I heard an all-too familiar but unwanted voice leer at me. I growled as James pulled his dark blue van up beside me: "Need a ride" he asked me, his eyes, as usual sliding over my body, and lingering at places it shouldn't be looking at. What was wrong with this idiot? Did I need to send him to hospital with a paralysed neck before he finally understood that I hated his guts?

"I wouldn't bother me if I were you unless you have an ambulance on speed dial" I spat at him. He chuckled before his hand shot out of his open window and grabbed hold of… my wrist! Can you believe the nerve of this guy? He smiled as though he had just been elected president of the United States, although I could've easily broken his hold of me and broken every bone in his arm in the same movement. He yanked on it as though to pull me closer to him, but I guess he was unaware of the fact that I was so much more stronger than him, I didn't budge, instead I gave him such a painful Chinese burn that he screamed in pain and let go of my wrist.

I gave him one disdainful look before turning my back on him to walk away, well, that was my plan, which did NOT include James yanking the end of my braid so that I was pulled backwards to the door of his car. Now that had hurt!

"Your hair feels very soft and nice, that's not to mention how beautiful it is" James mused as he felt my bronze curls between his fingers, I was just about to show him some very colourful phrases of my vocabulary when I felt his grip on my hair vanish, and than I heard him yelp in pain. I turned around only to gasp in shock.

Draco was leaning casually against the back of the blue van, holding James's s wrist in an iron grip that looked quite painful, this point being emphasised by the expression of agony on James's face.

Draco's angelic face was very calm and indifferent as though twisting back the arms of perverts was a frequent hobby of his. His powerful voice that implied authority was very even as he said "Now I don't know much about manners given that I don't have any, but yanking the hair of young ladies in the middle of the road doesn't seem like something anyone would appreciate very much".

His face was calm as he said this, betraying nothing, but as I stared at his deep, black eyes, I could see something like…anger, perhaps, threatening to spill over. James was now whimpering, he looked like he was about to cry, big wimp.

"Renesmee, do you mind if I break every bone in this guy's body?" Draco asked in that superior, leading voice of his.

"No, please be my guest" I growled, my glare focused on James's pathetic face, Draco stared ate me, an expression of pure surprise on his face, what was the reason behind that? Then, Draco looked back at James, a hint of contempt colouring his face.

"Very tempting, Renesmee." He said to me, though he was staring at James: "If I ever see you bothering her again, then I will break every bone in your miserable body, and not just that, I will grind those broken bones into dust, you hear me. Now get your ugly face away from me" Draco spat at James, releasing his iron grip. James rolled up his window and sped away without a second glance.

"Why did you let him go?" I scorned at Draco, I knew I should be scared of him, or not, considering it was me. But I knew that I should not be feeling completely at ease talking to this carnivorous vampire who might just make a lunge at me any minute, and yet, I wanted to talk to him, or shout at him for letting James ago, perfectly unharmed.

"You might not feel like showing some mercy, but I wasn't about to take that boy's life when I had no right" Draco answered, smiling at me, his black eyes, betraying his curiosity as he gazed at me. Why were his eyes still black? Was he still thirsty? Surely if he had drunk some blood now, they would be gold or amber if he drank animal blood or crimson red if he drank human blood.

"Oh, so you had no right to take James's life but that doesn't apply to me" I raved at him, I gasped internally at what I had just said, had I actually just brought up how he had tried to suck my blood, for all I knew, he might just make a lunge for me now and yet here I was talking to him, well, shouting really. Draco took a step closer to me with a small smirk on his handsome face. We were now standing so close that I could feel his breath on my face. My brain shouted at me that this was dangerous but I wasn't afraid, I felt only irritation with Draco.

"You're not a murderer. Though you might be mad right now, you would regret it deeply, later, if I'd taken that boy's life right now" Draco told me quietly, his intense gaze focused on my face.

"We weren't talking about my conscience; we were talking about your earlier attempt on my life" I snapped tetchily.

"But that's all it was: an attempt" Draco answered indifferently.

"So does that mean you're going to try again? Or are you scared that my family will kill you afterwards" I questioned, still unable to dredge up any fear or apprehension.

"If that was my intention then I highly doubt that you would be standing here talking to me calmly without any fear" Draco replied coolly.

"That's because I'm not afraid of you" I answered as thought that were the most obvious thing in the world, although nowhere near the most sane.

"Just as I'm not afraid of your coven" Draco responded, still sounding very calm, his breath tickling my face, he was so close now, that I could smell his strange cinnamon and apple flavoured scent.

"If that's the case, then why aren't you attacking me like you did before in the forest? And by the way, those vampires you met are my family, not my coven, which I have never been in before in my entire life" I replied.

"I suppose it's curiosity that is saving your life" Draco answered, cocking his head to the side as his black eyes seemed to deepen, something that I thought was impossible given that they were already as deep as the sea.

"I can't say that I'm exactly flattered" I responded contemptuously, I wasn't exactly sure where my disdain was coming from; all I knew was that it was being projected at Draco.

Draco chuckled as though I had just said something hilarious. "I didn't mean it as a compliment, I was merely being honest. But I was rather hoping you would answer some of my questions?" he asked, in a requesting tone.

"That's odd; because I had some questions for you, but I didn't bother asking them as I thought you wouldn't answer because you'd be too busy taking a snap at me" I replied matter-of-factly.

"You never really thought that" Draco contradicted knowingly in a soft voice.

"And what makes you say that?" I retorted.

"Because if you really thought that, you wouldn't be talking to me right now…plus somehow I just know that" Draco answered slowly, his gaze before had been focused on my face before, but now his deep, black eyes locked on my chocolate brown ones, making me feel slightly uncomfortable, as though I was treading water in a very deep pool. However, what he had just said proved that it wasn't just my imagination; we did share some strange connection. In an attempt to change the subject so that his deep, dark eyes would waver from mine, I said in an accusing voice, though I did not know why I was acting accusing:

"So, I thought you had some questions for me"

"And I thought you just said that you had some questions for me" Draco retaliated, grinning at me, displaying his perfect white teeth.

"Yeah, that's a valid point, how about we make a deal?" I enquired.

"I'm listening" he smiled.

"For every question you ask, I get to ask one" I wagered.

"Sounds cool to me, but I doubt I'd be able to get through all of my questions right now as it looks like you got school to go to" Draco notified me.

"Jeez, do you have a questionnaire planned out for me, or something?" I teased; I was starting to feel more and more comfortable around him, as though I was with Jacob.

"Yeah, I do, along with a complete interrogation; I have the whole package deal ready for you" Draco quipped back, his grin widening.

"Can't say that I can return the favour" I smirked at him.

"Look, we don't have much time right now, so how about we meet up later and talk?" Draco suggested. Reason told me that it was dangerous to say yes, beyond stupid, but my curiosity won the argument, and I felt obliged to trust him, for some reason I already did.

"Okay, I must be completely mad, but for some reason that's beyond me, I trust you, so how about seven o clock tonight" I replied, realising that I must be making a colossal mistake, but I welcomed the danger anyway.

"Fantastic, it's a date" he answered, his face lighting up like that was the only thing he was looking forward to. I knew that I wasn't imagining it, he really was genuinely looking forward to meeting me tonight, and not in a OH-I-GET-TO-DRINK-HER-BLOOD-BECAUSE-HER-FAMILY-WON'T-BE-THERE-TO-SAVE-HER way but in a –WOW-I-GET-TO-SEE-AND-TALK-TO-HER-AND-I-CAN-HARDLY-WAIT way. I stared at him, analysing his expression for any signs that I might be in danger by agreeing to this, but I could only see pleasure and joy, and not lust and desire. He noticed my inspection and smiled before walking away.

I gaped after him, hoping that I wasn't wrong in trusting him and that tonight wouldn't be my last chance to do something stupid, somehow I felt…happy to be seeing Draco tonight. I shook my head as I contemplated all the bizarre events that had transpired recently.


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay, the song that I have associated with this chap is Love Story by the talented Taylor Swift. I don't own any of these amazing characters apart from Draco, I'm nowhere near as talented as the incredible Stephenie Meyer. Please keep reading and reviewing otherwise I wnt rite anymore.**

**Chapter 7**

Funnily enough, James left me alone for the rest of the day, after the encounter with Draco. Even more stranger still, I was quite excited to meeting Draco tonight, I mean, I was only going to be getting answers to my questions and all the time I couldn't help agonising over the fact that the time just seemed to have frozen so that I was stuck in school forever. Wait a minute, Draco never told me where to meet him tonight, what was I going to do? I inhaled, attempting to steady my breathing.

Amazingly, miraculously, astonishingly, we were all finally dismissed and I ran out of the school to where dad usually waited for me. Although, I wasn't exactly sure why I was racing out of the school, I had still a couple of hours until I had to meet Draco, so I don't know why I was hurrying out of the school, maybe I just found the place so monotonous that I couldn't wait to be outta there. I sat down into the passenger seat with barely a mumbled 'hi dad' before I sank back into the cushioned seat, sinking into the pool of my thoughts. I was thinking of Draco and what questions we might ask each other, I already had a couple thousand planned out, and it seemed that that was the case with him.

My mind immediately flashed back to that moment when our eyes had met in the forest and the way we had seemed to connect when we had met for the first time ever.

_We were both young when I first saw you.  
I close my eyes and the flashback starts:  
I'm standing there on a balcony in summer air._

See the lights; see the party, the ball gowns.  
See you make your way through the crowd  
and say hello;

I was glad uncle Jasper wasn't here for if he were then he would be able to sense my anticipation of what this evening might entail along with my satisfaction that I would get the answers I was looking for. As soon as that thought entered my mind, all the other obstacles I may encounter during the evening began to assault me from all sides; I would need to ensure that my family wouldn't be suspicious when I left the house tonight: I would need to tell everyone that I was merely going out with a friend tonight, that could hardly arouse any suspicion but as a precaution I would need to take a watch with me so that I would know when it's time for me to return home safely.

"Renesmee" dad's voice broke the thoughtful silence that had settled over the car like a gently mist. I was worried by the tone of his voice though; it seemed quite stressed and uptight. I wondered what could possibly be on his mind that could trigger such worry in him.

"Renesmee, I've seen that Draco around, he hasn't left yet, god knows why, but I don't want you wandering around so much, or at all on that note. You might think I'm over-reacting but I just want to be cautious, Alice is keeping a watch, but you need to make an effort to stay as far away from Draco as possible" dad explained, glaring at something I couldn't see whilst his fist gripped the steering wheel tightly.

_Little did I know  
that you were Romeo; you were throwing pebbles,  
and my daddy said, "Stay away from Juliet."  
And I was crying on the staircase,  
begging you, 'Please, don't go.'"  
_

I froze, contemplating this new major difficulty that had risen, my whole family had realised that Draco was still around and they didn't trust him, though I couldn't exactly claim that I could trust Draco so completely that I could trust him with my life because honestly that was one thing I really didn't trust him with; my life, I mean it was only while ago that the dude had just tried to drain me all of my circulation, but I did trust him to some degree. I know, if you couldn't trust someone enough to believe that they wouldn't kill you, then isn't that the same as not trusting someone at all?

But, though I couldn't trust Draco about my life, that was the only thing I distrusted him about, everything else, I trusted him so completely that it shocked me. I barely knew the guy and I was thinking of him as though I had known him all my life, what was wrong with me? Anyway, although I knew that Auntie Alice couldn't see anything about my future, there was still the fact that she could see vampires which applied to Draco, even worse still, she could see vampires the best, of which I had to admit was just my luck. I would have to avoid Auntie Alice until I was safely out of the house with Draco, I stopped, was 'safe' really the correct word to associate with what I was doing, which let's face it was in fact, risking my life.

I nodded, truly grateful that dad was so gentlemanly that he rarely ever intruded on mine or any of our family's thoughts, although, sometimes he couldn't help it as for him, the thoughts of other people was the same as hearing them as if they had been spoken aloud, so he sometimes caught people's thoughts unintentionally and accidentally. His gift was a part of him, he couldn't change that anymore than the colour of his hair, but I was still immensely relieved that he stayed out of my mind as courtesy for he didn't then he'd know straight away that I planned on meeting Draco tonight, whom, in a more harsh and dictating perspective, he had just forbidden me from meeting.

We arrived at our white house that we shared with all the rest of our family and I walked in to go up into the bedroom that used to be my father's before Grandma Esme had gifted him and mom with shortly after their marriage and my birth. I kept all of my clothes in there as Auntie Alice enjoyed playing dress-up with me. The room was sort of like her limelight on her centre stage. I was always her favourite victim, being the only one vulnerable enough to fall prey to her talents, plus I was never as reluctant as my mom, although I enjoyed the relaxation I could dredge up from her makeovers, and her results were always stunning, I did find it irritating from time to time. Auntie Alice had no idea what the meaning of subtle which was meant that every makeover of hers would take half an hour, minimum, which was why it could be annoying when you weren't in the mood for patience.

I managed to find some relatively new jeans along with a comfortably warm, pale blue turtle neck. I decided to take out my braid and allow my bronze curls to cascade down my back. The soft tickle of it upon my neck and back felt good. I looked myself over in the full-length mirror and decided that it was good enough to leave the house to meet a dangerous vampire in. Ha! I could give auntie Alice lessons on how to look good within ten minutes; then again, I doubt she would ever accept them. I ran down the stairs noisily like there was nothing the world didn't need to know. Auntie Rosalie glanced over at me from the couch inquisitively.

"I'm just going out with some friends, tell everyone else that, okay" I said in response. She nodded and I hurried out of the door, relieved to be out of the house successfully. Then I kept on running until I was a good distance away from the house, where there was no danger of anyone discovering what I was up to.

_So I sneak out to the garden to see you.  
We keep quiet 'cause we're dead if they knew.  
So close your eyes; escape this town for a little while.  
'Cause you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter,  
and my daddy said "Stay away from Juliet,"  
But you were everything to me; I was begging you, 'Please, don't go,'"  
_

I skidded to a halt as I had no idea where Draco was, we never really had agreed on a meeting place so I had no idea what to do. I stood there, wondering what to do. My mind started to travel along a more unpleasant path of its own accord, what if Draco was playing some sick prank on me and was never even planning on meeting me?

"Penny for a thought" I heard a voice say from somewhere above me. Feeling like an idiot I looked up, I mean that's where it sounded like the voice came from and I do half some vampire senses. I looked up to see Draco lounging up in a tall ash tree. A lot of people would be surprised to see this, I mean, I know people climb trees all the time, but I somehow doubt that there's a climber talented or fearless enough to sit themselves down on a rather weak branch-which is precisely what Draco was doing- and just lounge there as if that it all they had to do.

I looked at Draco expectantly. I wasn't completely shocked to see Draco in this position, though I did envision meeting him on the ground, it's not as though I didn't imagine him capable, I just didn't expect him to be in a tree and talk to me. I don't know how I expected him to know that I wanted him to come down onto the ground just by looking at my face; we didn't know each other that well yet. But somehow, that's exactly what I expected of him. I just stared at him, waiting for him to come down. I had no aversion to climbing to the tree, but that wasn't my ideal place for a conversation.

Draco sighed and lithely and skilfully jumped down from the tree, landing gracefully on his feet in front of me. I guess, he could tell that I had wanted him to come down from the tree. He gazed at me for a few seconds before inspecting the space around us; he then turned back to me and asked: "We're alone?"

_And I said,  
"Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone.  
I'll be waiting; all there's left to do is run.  
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess  
It's a love story - baby just say 'Yes.'_

I nodded. Did he think I was going to bring some sort of parade with me? I wasn't and idiot for god's sake. We stared at each other for a couple more moments, not knowing how to start the conversation. He looked up at the tree, almost wistfully, before turning back to me, I raised an eyebrow slightly.

"I prefer it in the trees, that branch I was on before was quite comfortable" he responded.

"Every time we meet, you seem to have a thing for trees" I observed.

"Not really, last time we met, you decided to escape me using the trees as cover it was a smart plan, I have to admit" Draco complimented me with a smile, I, however could not accept the compliment due to one small technicality.

"But you found me and then tackled me to the ground" I contradicted.

He laughed before replying: "Yes, but that doesn't make it any less clever, I hadn't expected to be pinned to a tree by that bear of an uncle of yours, not that you didn't put up a pretty good fight, that branch you threw in my middle section wasn't exactly pleasant, you know"

"Jeez, thanks so much for reminding me of the day I almost got chewed up for lunch as it's one of my best memories" I drawled in an acerbic tone.

"Any time" he laughed. I rolled my eyes theatrically whilst he laughed some more. He had a strange, bell like laugh, I liked it, and it made me think of sun rays skimming the surface of a pristine lake. I came out of my reverie to see Draco standing only a couple of centimetres away from me, his closeness startled me, but again, I liked it for reasons I could not fathom. His gaze was yet again intense as it fell upon my face, however, unlike all the other times, he looked at me with that intense gaze of his, a smile was on his soft, pink lips.

A content smile, one that made me think that he couldn't possibly be more happy than he was now. A soft breeze nudged a bronze strand of my hair forward, into Draco's face, tickling his cheeks, his mile widened, and I felt a blush creep up my cheeks.

"Interrogation time" he said softly, softer than the gentle breeze that blew my hair into his face, his voice and the expression on his face was softer than even the soft whispering of the leaves on the trees around us.

_Romeo save me - they're tryin' to tell me how to feel;  
This love is difficult, but it's real.  
Don't be afraid; we'll make it out of this mess.  
It's a love story - baby just say "Yes.'"_

Oh.

The atmosphere and the person in front of me was so beautiful that I could hardly utter a word or even move a muscle, for fear of tainting the tranquil, gorgeous setting that had draped over us like a soft blanket of snow._  
_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Draco's smile never wavered as he gently took my hand and pulled me along. I was shocked with his casual touch, especially considering how we hardly knew each other. But it didn't feel like that, it was like we were connected in some way. A jolt of electricity went through my entire body as his fingers twined into mine. He stopped at the same ash tree he had been sitting on before.

"Okay, now I know it's not my imagination, you are fond of trees" I baited him.

"No, just this one in particular" he replied.

"Why is that? It's just like any other ash tree" I asked, thoroughly confused, will Draco ever cease to surprise me. Draco smiled as though he had just heard what I had thought, or maybe he was smiling about something else.

"No, it's not just any tree, this is the one that we had both fallen out of when I tackled you, and this is the tree that your uncle had pinned me against" Draco answered, that content smile still on his face.

"And that's important to you?" I questioned, baffled.

Draco turned to look at me, and I just about stopped breathing as his beauty stunned me. The gentle breeze had now turned stronger and was causing Draco's black curls to fly around his gorgeous face; his dark eyes were incredibly gentle and endearing as he told me: "Yes, that is important to me"

"Why?" I enquired, feeling more confused than ever.

"Excuse me, you've asked like three questions already and I haven't even asked one, are you trying to cheat on our deal?" Draco scolded me with mock irritation.

"Oops, I guess you caught me" I quipped back, grinning, he grinned back as he leaned against the tree, looking so leonine and handsome.

"So, what's your question number one" I enquired, feeling totally at ease with him.

"Well, I would ask you, but you stole some of my opportunities which means you have to make it up to me somehow" Draco explained, a mischievous gleam entering his eyes, I didn't like the look of that gleam, I really didn't.

"And what did you have in mind?" I queried.

"Well, that branch was rather comfortable, and I would much prefer talking up there" he answered.

"No, what's wrong with the ground?" I challenged.

"Nothing, I just love it up there, I thought that you wouldn't mind, but if you're scared, I guess we could stay here" Draco suggested, that mischievous gleam not leaving his eyes, if anything, it only get brighter.

"I am not scared, I just can't understand what you have against the ground" I retaliated.

"Well, if that's all, then I'll guess I'll see you in a minute" Draco replied mysteriously, before disappearing up the tree. I ground my teeth and tentatively began to climb the tree, I knew how to climb trees, and it wasn't that hard, I just didn't find it very comfortable or safe. I blindly felt my way up the tree, before I felt a strong hand grab me by the wrist and yank me up slightly.

I was about to shriek when I recognised Draco's touch, it was warm and strong, but soothing. His hand pulled me up, before his other arm wound itself around my waist, making sure I didn't fall. I gasped quietly, how was this happening? He pulled me up slowly but safely and then finally placed me on his lap, so that I wouldn't fall off the branch, out of the tree and onto the ground, Of course, this meant that there was hardly any space between our bodies, I was sitting on him, my face only a few centimetres away from his, my arm was pressed up against his chest and my eyes were drowning into his dark, deep ones.

I tried to make myself come out of the deep pool of his eyes but I failed hopelessly. His gaze was intense as he stared at me, his arms hung loosely by his sides, but I wished he would put them around me instead, why was that? What was wrong with me?

"You asked why I no longer wished to kill you, well, as soon as I first saw your face, I knew that you didn't deserve that, an angel like yourself deserves to have a blissfully happy life, a long, fulfilled life. Even in the forest, when I was hunting and I finally tackled you, about to snatch your life, you had your eyes closed, and I saw your face, I had to stop. I couldn't be that much of a monster to kill, to ruin something as perfect as you" Draco told me, his soft whisper barely audible above the wind that was now howling loudly.

I was finding it difficult to breathe now. The majority of my brain was focused on how my body was touching Draco's, whereas a detached part of my brain was thinking back to that moment when Draco had tackled me to the ground and I had been certain that he would kill me, but then I remembered that second when I could feel his breath on my face. I remembered wishing that he would make my death fast and painless, but now I realised that that moment's hesitation was him looking at my face.

"You're not a monster" I managed to whisper.

"That's what you think" he chuckled in a short burst of humour, however ruining that humorous effect by giving me a slow kiss on the forehead, my breathing accelerated, as my brain realised what was happening. I knew I should be frightened or at least angry with how fast things seemed to be going, but I wasn't, I was happy.

"I thought you wanted to ask me some questions" I asked, trying to divert my mind from the fact that I was sitting on his lap, my side pressed up against his chest.

"Yes, which brings me to question number one: what exactly are you? I mean, I'm not being rude, but all of your family are clearly vampires, and you have a heartbeat and everything" he enquired.

"To put it simply, I'm half human and half vampire, there are too many gory details for me to tell you anything more than that, I was conceived and carried my mother who you met when she was human, she had to become a vampire in order to survive the delivery" I droned.

"Interesting" Draco murmured, seeming to forget I was there.

"Yeah, I'm one of a kind" I muttered sarcastically.

He laughed before turning sombre. He began to play with one of my curls that were splayed all over his chest, maybe it had been a bad idea to leave my hair out loose today. But Draco seemed to prefer it that way; he wound it round and round his finger as he thought about something.

"You are one of a kind, but not because of your species, but because of your beauty, your personality, and your angelic quality" Draco murmured to me softly.

"No sarcasm implied, thanks for the amazing compliment" I replied, feeling the familiar blush crawl up my cheeks.

"Please tell me about you" Draco requested me, but I wanted to hear more about him.

"No, you asked a question, and I climbed up this tree for you, so I get to hear more about you" I disputed. Draco smiled at the argumentative tone in my voice before responding:

"There's nothing to tell, I travel without knowing where I'm going, just looking for prey to stumble on"

"I want to hear more than just that, stupid" I scoffed, rolling my eyes, why did all guys have to act so dense sometimes?

"Well, maybe I don't want to tell more than that just yet" Draco retorted.

I glared at him; this caused him to grin at me infuriatingly. I crossed my arms in disappointment. He laughed and brought his arms around me, still chuckling. I felt my heart beat frantically as his dark, curly haired head leaned into my hair that fell over my neck.

"You're so endearing when you're angry" he laughed into my hair and neck. I was certain now that there was no oxygen in the air, oh right, I had forgotten to breathe. Just then a roar of thunder sounded in my ears, startling me so suddenly that I jumped, causing both me and Draco to tumble out of the tree, we landed on the ground, me on top of Draco.

Draco laughed into the earth. There was rain pouring heavily down from the sky, drenching both me and Draco to the skin. I pulled myself up off Draco so that he could get up. His gorgeous curls were plastered to his forehead, and his black eyes sparkled with humour. I could not believe this, what was it about this guy that triggered such a reaction from me?

"Looks like the rain just ended our interrogation time" Draco laughed.

"I should go home" I stated, through chattering teeth.

"Of course, I would walk you home, but I think your family would have something to say about that" Draco replied, grinning.

"Sure" I replied.

"Goodbye, Renesmee, I'll be waiting to meet you again" Draco smiled before covering the few centimetres between us to land a very soft, but very short kiss on my lips, though it was short, I felt it all the way to my toes, it was only a few seconds before Draco drew away with a smile. Then he pulled back my wet hair from my face before disappearing into the forest.


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm sorry if you think I moved a little fast, but I couldn't resist. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter; I really gave it my all, so I hope all of you extend the same courtesy to me, by simply reviewing more. I'll be very upset if I don't get a lot of reviews. Enjoy, read and review.**

**Chapter 9**

I walked into the house, closing the front door behind me quietly and discreetly, not wanting to draw attention to myself. My hair dripped water onto the floor as was my clothes. I couldn't help smiling at how mine and Draco's bodies had been pressed up against each other, both in the tree and when we landed on the ground. My lips tingled very slightly from when Draco had brushed them with his lips.

"I don't recall ever recommending the wet hair, soaked clothes look for you" Auntie Alice scolded me as she came down the stairs.

"Um, well, I got caught in the rain on the way home" I answered hopelessly.

"Uhuh, well go up and dry off, it hurts to look at what you've become after all of my training of your fashion sense" Auntie Alice moaned. Always the drama vampire, I thought to myself as I dragged myself upstairs. I was quite tired, so I just threw my clothes into the laundry to wash for later, and threw on my pyjamas, I used the hair dryer for about two minutes, before giving up and flopping onto the bed, I was too tired to even drag myself to the cottage in the forest.

I woke up the following Saturday morning to the sun's rays on my face. The events of the previous night caught up with me and I gasped aloud as I remembered. What was wrong with me? Why did I have such a reaction to Draco? Could I … possibly be in love with him? No, that was impossible, I hardly knew the guy, for god's sake. I sighed, there was no point troubling myself over such things. I sighed again, and got up out of bed, there was nothing for me to do, so I thudded down the stairs and lounged across the sofa, flicking through all the channels on the TV.

"Good morning, did u have a good time last night?" mom asked me as she sat down on the sofa next to me.

"Yeah, great, it was fun" I answered, still flicking through the channels absent-mindedly, my mind was straying back to Draco, urgh, this was getting ridiculous, why was I so drawn to the carnivore for god's sake? I had only just recently met him, and yet I seemed to be always thinking of him.

"Nessie, something has just arrived for you" Auntie Rosalie informed me as she walked into the room.

"For me?" I enquired intelligently.

Auntie Rosalie rolled her eyes before saying "Yes, for you, unless there is another Renesmee Cullen living here in this house that we don't know about".

I stuck out my tongue at her playfully; she shook her head in mock disgust whilst I jumped of the sofa and ran to where my delivery was waiting for me.

I gasped in shock as I saw a large bouquet of white lilies addressed to me. This must be a mistake, who would send white lilies to my doorstep? And wasn't the classic delivery of flowers meant to be roses. There was a small sky blue card attached to the bouquet, I had to admit, the blue card attached to the white lilies looked enchanting, it was such an original bouquet that I had to study it for a couple more moments to make sure it was real.

I fingered the petals tentatively, they felt soft, and I then lifted the blue card carefully. Written elegantly in small, neat script were the words:

Renesmee

I quite enjoyed our short interrogation last night

But perhaps it was a bit too short so I was thinking that maybe

You and I could meet again to continue.

Same place as before. Around noon, I'll be waiting,

But please don't feel obliged to come.

Love Draco.

I could feel myself freeze. He enjoyed last night, he wanted to meet me again, and he signed the note as love. I knew that if anyone walked past and saw me standing here, then they would get suspicious, but I couldn't find it in me to care. My every brain cell was focused on Draco. Okay, I told myself, get a grip on yourself! So, he wants to see you again, big deal, he just want to ask you some more questions, but he signed the note as love, another thought in my brain piped up. Stop it! I internally screamed at myself; first remember how to breathe again.

"So, who's it from?" I heard a voice from behind me ask; I whirled around to face Auntie Rosalie.

"Um, no one" I blurted out stupidly. I wanted to shoot myself, although that would not even graze my skin, what sort of answer was no one, I mean, if no one sent it, how did the bouquet end up on our doorstep. Since when did we get any mail from the tooth fairy?

Auntie Rosalie raised an eyebrow. I sighed, now she definitely knew something was up.

"Look, it's kind of complicated, can we please not say anything to anyone?" I pleaded.

"Alright" Auntie Rosalie sighed. I was surprised, normally Auntie Rosalie just hassled you until she knew all the when's, why's, and what's. I raised an eyebrow; she knew what I was getting at. She sighed before confessing:

"I want you to have the romantic life I never had"

I blushed; she thought that this is what all of this was: romance. It wasn't like that; it couldn't be like that, me and Draco had only just met. That was impossible for us, wasn't it?

"It's not like that" I mumbled, really wishing it was for reasons I couldn't fathom, 'Love Draco' flashed into my mind as I said that, again, that very uncomfortable question arose: was I in love with Draco?

"Right, because 'nobody' just sends flowers to just anyone" Auntie Rosalie snickered, her fingers sketched air quotes around the word nobody. Auntie Rosalie stared at

The lilies almost longingly, she smiled at me as she said:

"Wow, whoever they are, they certainly have class, very original, I have to admit, white lilies, how sweet" she remarked, I felt another blush flame my cheeks as she said this. She smiled at me once more before flouncing off towards the garage, probably to her car. I stood, motionless, for a couple more seconds, before finally coming to life, it was 11:30, and Draco was expecting me around noon.

I ran upstairs. I quickly showered, brushed my teeth and got dressed. Once again, I decided to leave my hair loose. I hope it wasn't going to rain, but maybe I should take an umbrella just in case, it was just like my fabulous luck to be unable to find an umbrella. Giving up on the umbrella, I ran back down the stairs, yelling as I went past mom, "I'm going out, I'll be back soon".

I was really excited to be meeting Draco again, I kept on sprinting onwards. I stopped, great; I couldn't remember which tree I had sat in with Draco yesterday. Curse Draco's love for trees, I hoped he would let us talk on the ground today. I sighed in frustration, how on earth was I supposed to find Draco? I shrieked as I felt a pair of hands grab me and hurl me upwards. All too suddenly my gaze was drowning in a pair of deep, black eyes.

Draco laughed as he said: "Could you scream a bit louder? I don't think they heard you all the way from Scotland".

"Well, do you think maybe you could be a bit scarier? Dracula, because I don' think you succeeded in scaring me to death" I snapped back angrily.

"Dracula, that's a good one, but you think I'm scary?" he asked, his mouth twisting upwards into a smile.

"Only when it comes to trees, why you couldn't just call my name like anyone with a normal functioning mind, I'll never understand"

"Are you scared of trees?" he enquired.

I looked down, brooding on whether or not I should answer his question.

"Yes, but not when I'm with you" I mumbled, wishing that a thunder bolt would throw us out of the tree again.

He was silent for a moment, but then I felt his finger lift my chin up so that I was drowning in his deep, black eyes again. I was sitting on his lap again, my side, once again, pressed up against his chest. Those dark, twin pools were intense as they melted me. He smiled slightly before pulling his finger away as he instructed me:

"Put your arms around my waist" I stared at him as though he had just expressed a wish to fly off to planet Venus, using only his arms. He smirked at me, his arms which had just been resting by his sides, moved to lift my arms to place them around his waist. I was too shocked to object, his legs underneath me, moved, resulting in me sitting in between in his thighs. My heart banged against my chest painfully, his legs tightened around my middle section, just underneath my hips, and then he swung upwards dangerously, I shrieked as I unthinkingly threw my arms around his waist, clinging on for my life, I felt one of his arms go around me, keeping me close to his chest.

His legs formed some sort of iron cage around me as I held onto him. I closed my eyes tightly, as I felt my body being jerked upward. What was he doing? Was he suicidal? I kept my eyes firmly shut, until:

"Open your eyes, Renesmee" I ignored him, he was trying to drive me mental here, well I was not going to let him succeed. I heard him sigh, well, too bad, he can't force me to open my eyes, and well that's what I thought until I felt something soft press itself against my lips. Draco. He was kissing me, he pulled away after a moment, and I opened my eyes to stare at him. He was smirking as he said:

"Good, I finally got you to open your eyes" he grinned. I sighed; of course, he was just fooling about, there wasn't anything like that between us, but, oh, how I wish there was. His beauty stunned me as he gazed intensely at me, I was still clutching his him, and he was looking down into my eyes. A gentle breeze ruffled his black curls, and his godlike face was only centimetres away from mine.

"Please look around you, Renesmee, please" he begged me quietly. I sighed in defeat and turned away from his perfect face, only to gasp at the sight that met me. We were standing near the top of three, where the leaves were quite thin, so that you could see through the branches down to the ground. As there weren't many branches blocking our view, we could look up and see a clear sky without any clouds, and all around us, left, right, front, and behind, there were the densely populated leaf covered branches of all the other trees surrounding us. The view was spectacular and beautiful. I never wanted to look away.

I was so lost in the beauty of this view that I was totally unaware of where I was moving my feet, we were standing on a wide branch, balanced precariously, I moved my foot and lost my balance, I would've tumbled to the ground, if Draco hadn't thrown out both of his arms and caught me backwards, he pulled me upright so quickly that I stumbled into his chest, my arms falling around his neck. Draco's arms clutched me to him, and I breathed in his strange apple and cinnamon scent.

"So, what do you think?" he murmured into my hair, still clutching me to him, and honestly, I didn't want him to let go.

"Everything is absolutely perfect" I murmured back. We lapsed into silence, his arms still encaged me, I felt something soft touch my hair, his lips? Or maybe that was just my imagination getting its hopes up again, however, I didn't care, I was in his arms, and that was enough for the moment.


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay, thank u 2 all of dose piple hu reviewed, and those of u hu hv dis story added 2 ur favourite stories list, plz review. It would mean so much 2 me, anyway, some of u will be pleased 2 no dat Jacob is bac in dis chap even tho he's not bac in da way u guys probably expected it. I'm sorry if u thought I was focusin 2 much on Draco, but dat was necessary. Sorry for the long note, remember I don't own any of these fabulous characters, apart from Draco, now on with da story.**

**Chapter 10**

We stood there for a while in each other's arms, but then Draco manoeuvred our bodies so that we were sitting on the branch, with me on his lap. Draco began to play with my hair, sighing contentedly. I stared at his face, wondering how best to voice out my request. I hated keeping secrets from my family, I had to tell them about Draco, I wasn't exactly sure what I felt about him, but I knew that I wanted him to be a permanent part of my life. I couldn't hide him from my family forever, surely, they wouldn't mind too much if I brought Draco home. I definitely was not going to ask everyone beforehand if I could bring Draco home, it would be a surprise visit, unfortunately.

But how was I going to invite Draco to meet my family? I wasn't sure how to ask him this out loud, so I resolved on using my talent to show him what I wanted, of course he would be startled by my gift, but I would explain that afterwards. I took a deep breath, but then at that moment Draco looked up from the strand of my hair he had been playing with, and smiled a breathtaking smile, and that deep breath I had taken became useless. Draco's black curls were flying around his pale, face, and his deep, black eyes were amazingly gentle as he smiled at me. There was no reason for him to smile, it was a blissfully content smile he aimed at me, his eyes looked incredibly peaceful, and his smile was as solid as ever.

I stared into his eyes, the one thing that always calmed my frazzled nerves, I could see nothing in those dark pools but happiness and joy, and this encouraged me. Still holding his gaze, I cupped his cheek with my hand, feeling as though I might faint from joy. This was something I had fantasised about almost from the moment I had met him, I cupped his warm cheek in my hand, focusing on the thoughts about welcoming him into my home to meet my family again. He gasped and in that moment I knew that he could see what was in my head. I pulled my hand away, all this while, my gaze hadn't moved once from his eyes.

Draco stared at me and then stuttered "Wh…what…was that?" I smiled angelically at him, before asking:

"Well, will you come to meet my family?"

"Of course, if that's what you want" he answered, still in a daze from what I had just shown him.

"That's good, that was my gift, so to speak" I replied, answering his question nonchalantly. He stared at me for a couple more moments, that intelligence in his eyes brewing over, before he finally asked:

"Can all of your family do that?"

"No, just me, my family have different talents" I responded.

"What can they do?" Draco asked avidly, I could see the curiosity burning in his eyes; this curiosity caused him to lean in towards me, something which pleased me tremendously.

"Well, not all of them can do something extraordinary, only my auntie Alice, my mom, my dad, and my uncle Jasper, uncle Jasper can feel other people's emotions and control them as well, Auntie Alice can see visions of the future, whereas my dad can hear the thoughts of other people, and my mom can kinda project some sort of shield, but it can only protect people from weapons that work within the mind" I droned on whilst Draco listened attentively as though I was the most engrossing film the world has ever seen.

"Interesting" he murmured, appearing deep in thought, but then he looked up and grinned at me, saying:

"Well, we have to go and see your family; I take it that they don't know I'm coming"

"No, so I hope you're good at escaping murderous vampires" I sighed.

Draco chortled before warning me: "Put your arms around me and close your eyes", I did as instructed, knowing full well what he was about to do, I closed my eyes and diverted my mind from the thought of heights by counting each of Draco's breaths, then:

"Open your eyes, Renesmee" he commanded. I did so and was relieved to find myself safely on the ground. I then realised that I was still clutching Draco around his middle section. I let go unwillingly. He smiled as he twined his fingers through mine. I smiled at his warm touch.

"So which way is your home?" he asked.

I smiled at him as I replied: "Follow me".

We ran towards my home, holding hands. I stopped running as we came into sight of the white house, I could feel my heart accelerate. Was I making a mistake? Draco smiled encouragingly as he led the way to the front door, still holding my hand. He had to let go in order to ring the doorbell, he stepped aside so that I was standing in front. I gulped nervously as the front door opened to reveal Grandpa Carlisle; I was relieved that it was him who opened the door. Grandpa Carlisle was always calm and reasonable, he rarely ever got angry or lost his temper, he would most definitely listen to my explanation before he made any judgements.

"Oh, Nessie…and Draco" Grandpa Carlisle exclaimed as his eyes widened in surprise when he saw who I was with.

"Hello, Carlisle, how nice to see you again" Draco remarked pleasantly. I took a deep breath before finally speaking:

"Me and Draco got talking and I invited him over, I hope that's okay" I mumbled nervously.

"Of course, that's okay, please come in, Draco" Carlisle responded courteously. Draco was in my house but he hadn't met the rest of my family and that was probably the worst part.

"Hey, Ness…" Jacob's voice trailed off as he saw who was behind me. Curiosity lined his face as he looked at Draco. I instantly felt a stab of remorse, ever since Draco had come into my life, I'd completely stopped visiting La Push, not because I'd forgotten about Jacob, but because, I simply lost track of the time when I was with Draco and by the time I returned home, I always felt too tired to visit La Push.

The whole family looked up as I walked in with Draco, I could see the surprise on all their faces about who I'd brought home.

"Hey, everyone, you all remember Draco, I thought it would be a good idea to invite him here" I explained, feeling so nervous that I was trembling, Draco was standing very close to me, watching my face, and he must have sensed my tension as he lightly brushed my hand with his inconspicuously, making me feel slightly more confident. However, I saw Jacob's eyes follow that exchange, and I saw his eyes cloud over with anger, and if I thought maybe pain, he looked at mom to glare at her meaningfully. Mom looked shocked but nodded slightly. This confused me, but then I caught sight of dad's face; it was livid.

"Dad, relax, I've really gotten to know Draco, and I promise you that he won't hurt me, he's really intelligent and charming" I assured dad, however this did not bring out the reaction I had wanted from dad.

"What do you mean you've gotten to know him? Does that mean you've been spending time with him?" dad roared at me. Oh boy, this was exactly what I had been afraid of, the rest of the family flinched at dad's murderous roar.

"Dad, please calm down, I told you, Draco won't hurt me, if you took the opportunity, then you would know through his thoughts, that he really does truly care for me, and if you asked uncle Jasper, then you would know that Draco is quite calm and in control right now. He would never hurt me, I know that he really does care for me" I explained to dad in a reassuring tone. However, at the last part, Draco smiled a wide smile and once again, brushed my hand with his, but this caused the pain and anger in Jacob's eyes to deepen, and I felt remorseful, although I had no idea what the reason for Jacob's pain was.

Dad calmed down and relaxed, he breathed in and out for a couple more moments whilst the rest of us waited. Then he looked up and smiled at Draco, at this I relaxed. Draco grinned, and upon Grandpa Carlisle's suggestion, we all made our way to the living room to socialise, however, I was stopped by mom.

"Renesmee, I need to speak to you alone for a minute" as Draco followed dad into the living room. I nodded, feeling thoroughly bewildered as I followed her upstairs. Mom walked into Grandpa Carlisle's study. I followed on after her, wondering what on earth this was all about.

"Nessie, I think the best way to do this is to get straight to the point" mom informed me as I shut the door behind me. I was taken aback by this opening to the conversation; I was instantly alert and nervous. Whatever mom wanted to talk about, it was definitely serious and I was now worried.

"Nessie, do you know what is meant by imprinting?" mom enquired.

Once again, I was taken aback by this question. Of course I knew what imprinting was, but what on earth did this have to do with me?

"Sure, it's like what's with Sam and Emily, isn't it? Jacob explained it to me a while ago, but what does this have to do with me?" I questioned, feeling baffled.

"Well, there's no other way to say this…" mom said hesitantly, frustrating me.

"Spit it out, mom"

"Jacob had imprinted on you when you was a baby" mom blurted out.

I stared at her, not really seeing her at all, her words rang out in my head but they didn't make sense to me. Jacob imprinted on…me. Oh, no, I was in love with Draco, I sank down onto the floor, what was I going to do?


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey everyone, its me again wiv anova chap, I hope u all like it, but im havin sum trouble deciding (as well as Nessie) about who to choose, Jacob or Draco, Draco is completely my own character, so I'm a little biased, but I do love Jacob, so I would really appreciate it if you could give me your opinions, I might listen to you all or I might not, but I would like to hear your opinions anyway as I'm really stuck with the Draco versus Jacob dilemma, so help? Please? Sorry bout da long note, so on wiv da story.**

**Chapter 11**

I sank down onto the floor, if I had been imprinted on by Jacob, then how could I be in love with Draco? For I knew now that I was in love with Draco, what other explanation could there be for the longing, the craving I had to be with him all the time, the passionate way I thought of him, the awe I always felt when I looked at him, and the reaction my heart had every time he touched me. But Jacob imprinting on me explained his affection he had for me, and the affection I felt for him in return. I sat on the floor, motionless, not moving, just thinking about my situation, mom's frantic voice brought me out of my reverie.

"Nessie, please say something, I'm going crazy here"

But I couldn't say anything, all I could think was that Jacob can't have imprinted on me that would ruin everything for me. I felt mom shake me vigorously so that my head spun a little, couldn't she leave me alone long enough for me to gather my thoughts from the chaotic mess in my head? But she continued to shake me, begging me to say something. I opened my mouth to comfort her, to assure that I was fine, but I was not fine, was panic-stricken, pained, and angry, so I might as well let her know that, this was the only explanation for what I said next.

"Why did you hide this from me all these years?" my whisper trembled with the pain and fury that clouded all reason from me.

"Nessie, I'm so sorry, I was just waiting for the right time" mom replied defensively, this only angered me, the right time, that was her excuse, she was telling me that the right time to tell me that I'm an imprintee (if that's the word for it) of a werewolf was after I had already fallen in love with another person. Yeah, this was the right time all right, the right time to ruin my life, the right time to cause me agonising pain!

"You call this the right time!" I snarled at mom.

"Well, I was going to tell you sooner or later, everyone was pressuring me to tell you, but then you came with home with Draco, and I could see that you were well on your way to loving Draco, the affection between you two was obvious, so I knew that I should tell you now before it was too late till you were in love with Draco" mom explained desperately, but I was past reason; I was furious.

"You mean that you were only going to tell me this to stop me falling in love with Draco" I was no longer whispering, but I was now talking in a raised voice, not quite yelling or shouting, but it was getting dangerously close to that.

"Renesmee, I was going to tell you eventually, but I saw you and Draco today, so I thought-"mom began to explain, but I interrupted her.

"Yes, I know, you didn't want me to fall in love with Draco, but I have news for you, mom, it's too late because I'm already in love with Draco!" I yelled angrily.

"Nessie, I never dreamed any of this would happen to you, if it had, then I would've stopped it" mom attempted to console me, but I was way past consolation.

"If that's true, then why did you let Jacob imprint on me all those years ago?" I snapped.

"It's not something anyone can control, Edward and everyone else had hated it, but there was nothing anyone could do about it, besides, Jacob had already suffered so much pain because of me, you were the one that helped him heal, his whole life came back together because of you, how could I ever continue to hate something that made everyone so happy?" mom debated desperately.

"So, I have to suffer and clear up your mess!" I shrieked at her.

"No, Nessie, it's not like that" mom pleaded with me, her eyes glistening with the tears she could not shed, but I was way past caring, I was much too livid, and much too consumed in my own pain. Mom reached out to touch me, but I jerked away from her, I didn't want to be near anyone, I just wanted to be alone, so I got up from the floor- my legs were quite stiff- and ran out of the room at my vampire speed.

I felt a hand grab my wrist and spin me around. I looked up to face Jacob.

"Nessie, I know you must be mad, but if you'll just list-"he began to tell me, but I interrupted him, Wrenching out of his hold on my wrist, I growled at him:

"No, I won't listen, what are you going to explain? As far as I'm concerned, no one ever told me the truth, therefore I have nothing more to say to any of you", with that I turned away from Jacob and ran out the door.

I heard mom call after me, but I didn't care, I saw the rest of my family, Jacob, and Draco glance at me as I sprinted out the front door, but I didn't glance at any of them, as far as I was concerned, they had all hidden this from me for most of my life, therefore I didn't want to speak to them. I ran out the door, into the forest and I didn't stop until I was too blinded my angry, pain-filled tears. I stopped running and sat down on the tree trunk of a random tree.

I put my arms around my knees, then rested my head on my knees, and began to cry, something I hadn't done in ages. What do I do? Whatever decision I chose, I would only end up hurting people, myself, and everyone else. How could I choose between Jacob and Draco? I loved both of them; I didn't want to have to give either of them up. As I contemplated the thought of giving either of them up, I would feel a fresh torrent of tears trickled down my cheeks. I don't know how long I sat there, crying, but I couldn't find it in me to stop.

I then felt a warm arm drape itself around my shoulders comfortingly. I looked up to glare at the person who had dared to stumble upon me when I was crying- the weakest thing I could ever do, and I hated it- and then dare to disturb me, couldn't they tell that I might just want some time alone?

I looked up to glare at this intruder- yes; I know the effect would be slightly ruined by my puffy, red eyes, and my blotchy nose- only to see that it was Draco. He pulled my some, loose, messy strands of my hair out of my face, and then he peered at my blotchy, tear-streaked face. He got out a plain white, simple handkerchief and began to wipe the tears away from my face wordlessly.

"Draco, what are you doing here?" I whispered it made no sense for him to be here with me, he should hate me.

"You looked like you might be in need of some comforting" he answered quietly, holding me close to him, with one arm, so that my head was resting on his shoulder, it felt nice and consoling, but I didn't deserve this, Draco should hate me, that's what I deserved.

I looked up at his gorgeously intelligent black eyes as I said to him: "Don't you hate me?" I continued to stare into his eyes, and could see not hatred or even anger in there.

"Hate you? What reason would I have to hate you?" Draco enquired, seeming confused.

"Well, I never told you that I had been imprinted on and I dragged you to my house anyway, and then I storm out of there without a word or an explanation" I explained, feeling annoyed that I should even have to explain any of this.

"I don't hate you, on the contrary, I actually love you" he murmured, pressing his lips to my hair, on any other day, what he said would've shocked me and made my heart leap with joy, but today, it didn't matter, for he wouldn't love me once I explained what mom had told me, he probably didn't even know what imprinting was, that could be the only explanation why he was still here, and why he could still love me? I bet he didn't understood what I had been talking about when I had told him why he should hate me.

"Look, Draco, there's something called imprinting that you should know about-"I began to explain, but his finger on my lips stopped me.

"Hush, I know what imprinting is, your family and your werewolf friend was explaining it to me at the same time as your mother was explaining it to you, it doesn't change how much I love you" he informed me, he was still holding me close to him.

"Draco, how can you ever continue to love a girl who loves another guy as well as yourself?" I exclaimed, my eyes brimmed with tears as I said this, I didn't want him to suffer along with me, he shouldn't love me, I didn't deserve his love.

"Do you love me?" Draco demanded of me, staring intently into my eyes, I was going to miss those eyes so much when he left me, which, let's face it, was the most sensible thing to do in his shoes.

"But Draco-"I began to say, however he interrupted me, once again:

"Just answer the question, please Renesmee, do you love me? Yes or no?"

"Draco-"I attempted to explain, once again, however, he asked again, interrupting me:

"Do you love me?" his gaze as intent as ever.

"Yes, but-"I blurted out, trying to say something, but for like the tenth time, he interrupted me, it was like he didn't want to hear what I had to say.

"Then that's all I need to know" he said.

I opened my mouth to say something, but I never got to say it, and nor could I later on remember what I wanted to say, because just then, my lips were silenced when Draco kissed me. His lips came crushing down on mine, and all I could think was: he loves me, Draco actually loves me! His lips continued to move against mine, and the rest of the world just broke away until it was only me and Draco, alone together, at last.


	12. Chapter 12

**Thank you all so much to those who reviewed my last chapter. I accept all criticism, praise and opinions. Please don't ever stop reviewing. Also, please tell me, who should Nessie end up with, Draco or Jacob? I love both of these guys so much; therefore I'm in no place to decide. I need your reviews to tell me.**

**Chapter 12**

The sunlight squeezed in through the branches and leaves of the forest and fell upon my face, forcing my eyes open. I yawned hugely into the strong, comfortable shoulder I was resting my head on. Wait, why and whose shoulder was I on? I lifted my head slightly to see Draco's head resting on mine, his eyes were closed, his face was peaceful, and I could feel his chest moving steadily as he breathed in and out. He was asleep.

My mind raced back to last night. Draco followed after me to comfort me. He confessed that he loved me. Draco loved me. I remembered our kiss, but my mind was a blank after that, we talked and kissed for a while more, I all but forgot about the Jacob-imprinting-on-me-and- none-ever-telling-me-about-it thing. I rested my head back onto the sleeping Draco's shoulder contently, when something occurred to me, Draco was a vampire so how was it possible that he could sleep.

I felt Draco stir so I moved my head of his shoulder, but he wrapped his arms around me, preventing me from moving. While I appreciated this very much, my curiosity was engulfing me, how could he sleep as a vampire?

"Good morning, did you have a nice sleep?" Draco breathed into my ear, his breath on my face.

I nodded, but then remembered something very crucial; my whole family would be frantic with worry as I hadn't returned home all night.

"Draco, I didn't go back home, everyone will be so worried" I moaned into his shoulder.

"Shush, Renesmee, I called your family and let them know that you were safe once you had fallen asleep" Draco assured me, silencing me with his finger on my lips. I let that sink in, before sitting up a bit straighter, into a more convenient position for conversation.

"Draco…" I began, nestling deeper into his chest.

"Yes?"

"You're a vampire, so how is it possible that you can sleep?" I questioned. I felt him freeze upon my query; that was definitely a bad sign.

"Unless you're not a vampire?" I surmised. Still he did not say anything; this only made me believe that my question was not that far off from the truth.

"Draco?"

He said nothing; only leaned his head back into the bark of the tree, a sign of defeat, of resignation, this added to my curiosity.

"No, I'm not a vampire" he murmured quietly.

"Then you lied to me" I whispered, was there anyone in the world who would tell me the truth? Didn't anyone care enough for me to tell me the truth?

"No, I never, I just didn't tell you the truth" he whispered, closing his eyes, I hated to see this action from him; it conveyed defeat, pain, something I never wanted to see from him. I loved to see him brave and in control, in the position of a leader of angels.

"Renesmee, I know how you hate secrets, how you hate anything but the truth. But has it ever occurred to you that some things don't need to be shared with you" he murmured, his eyes still closed.

"You're telling me that what you are is not crucial for me to know?" I cried.

"You get too overwhelmed by your curiosity, the questions that would result from me telling you about myself would be unnecessary for you to know, but you would insist on knowing the answered, and as I can never refuse you anything, I would answer, and I never ever want that" he explained, half whispering, his eyes closed the whole time. Why were his deep eyes, deep with intelligence, closed? I loved staring into those eyes, why was he denying me that pleasure?

"You have a problem with me asking questions?" I argued angrily. He was silent for a little while, then he opened his eyes and I gasped from what I saw. His eyes held a wild tangle of emotions, there was pain, confusion, desire, worry, I couldn't even begin to describe what I saw when I looked into his black eyes, there was such a wide sea of emotions in his eyes, and when I looked into them, I knew he was drowning, and I so wanted to help him.

"I am of the same species as you, Renesmee, but unlike you, I have such a complex history, one so dark and terrible, that I am haunted by it every single day of my existence. I knew that if I even begun to tell you about myself, you would have a thousand questions, each one digging deeper and deeper into my history, my history that I never ever want to return to, I can't escape it, Renesmee, when I have lived it, but you don't know anything of it, therefore, you can never be haunted by it, I don't ever want to take that gift away from you, you have absolutely no idea how lucky you are to not even have an inkling of what my history entails. Please don't make me take that away from you" Draco confessed, his words coming out in a long, quiet, chain of torture.

He sounded so tormented, he was staring straight ahead, his eyes unfocused as though he were seeing something else instead of the green buzz of life that surrounded us, probably that dark story of his existence that he said haunted him. I immediately loathed myself for making him think of something that obviously caused him so much pain. Why do I have to be so selfish? I had caused Draco to remember something that he obviously never wanted to think about because it obviously caused him pain.

Draco seemed to snap out of his reverie as he looked at me, his gaze intense, as he said:

"Renesmee, do you remember when you had asked me to tell you more about myself? I told you that I didn't want to tell you about myself. I didn't want to talk about myself and that hardly qualifies as lying, I actually think that I had achieved something, I had managed to avoid lying to you, and I'm quite impressed with myself that I have managed that so far" he observed quietly.

I cursed myself internally, he was right, he had never really lied to me, he had just avoided certain topics, and I was just being selfish and childish. I didn't deserve his angelic company, I was a childish idiot, he had no reason to be here with me and put up with my temper tantrums. The thought of my behaviour towards his perfect self caused my eyes to prick with tears, why did I always have to act so undeserving of him?

Draco tilted my chin towards him so that I was forced to look into his eyes; however, my vision was slightly blurred by my tears. He wiped them away as he said:

"Why are you crying? I hate it when you cry"

"I don't see why you even bother with me, I act so stupid and childish" I whimpered, feeling so dejected.

"You're still angry and hurt over what happened last night, your behaviour is understandable, when you're in a good mood, you're very intelligent and intriguing" he assured comfortingly.

"Thank you" I told him fervently as I leaned into him, resting my head back onto his shoulder, thankfully, his arms were still around me.

"For what? For being honest?" he murmured into my hair.

"Well, I was going to say for being so comforting and sweet, but now that I think about it, your honesty makes such a refreshing change" I answered.

"Don't mention it" he whispered into my hair.

"Do you think that my family would let me stay out here all morning too?" I asked.

I waited for him to answer, but then we heard loud noises coming from all around us, it sounded like thousand of intruders were blundering about in the forest. Draco sat, frozen for a couple of moments.

Then he yanked me up into his arms within half a second, and then he was sprinting across the ground, he slung me over his back, locking my arms and legs securely around him, and then he was flying across the tops of the trees. I was too shocked at his bizarre behaviour; he seemed almost terrified about something. Everything seemed to be happening too fast, one minute I was nestled into Draco's arms, on the ground and the next I was on Draco's back, who was sprinting so fast as though we were in some sort of danger. What was happening?


	13. Chapter 13

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, especially to those who said whether or not they are in favour of Draco or Jacob, unfortunately, it's a tie, so I'm going to need more help. By the way, none of you need to worry about Jacob ever being miserable, I have a plan for both outcomes, and I just need to know which one to use. Enjoy, but review at the end please.**

**Chapter 13**

I kept quiet as Draco sprinted deeper and deeper into the forest; I refrained from saying anything as I thought that Draco would give me an explanation sooner or later, but no such thing happened. He kept on running, the trees and forests a blur as we flew past. Normally I would've felt dizzy from the way we were travelling, but Draco's strange behaviour frightened me so much that I barely acknowledged the fact that I was slung over a another half human, half vampire's shoulder who was racing through the woods.

"Draco, what the hell is going on?" I demanded when he still failed to give me an explanation.

"Not now" he whispered fiercely, still racing ahead, without giving me even a hint of where we were going.

"Yes, now, Dracula, you can't expect a girl to not ask questions when she is slung over someone's shoulder. You're just lucky that I didn't scream my head off when you yanked me up and just took off, I very nearly did due to the surprise, but as it was you, I restrained myself as I thought you would explain" I whispered back in an equally ferocious flow of words.

Draco said nothing and did not slow. This just scared me more, were we in some perilous danger?

"Draco, please tell me something, I'm scared" I whispered into his neck, I could feel the fear possessing every nerve cell in my body, I lifted my fingers to twine them into Draco's dark curls in an attempt to soothe my hectic worries. Draco slowed a little at this until he ceased moving altogether, he searched every centimetre of space around us, before pulling us up into a low branch by our heads. But instead of stopping at the first branch to just lounge there like he usually did, he kept on climbing, me clinging onto his back, as he scaled the tree like spider man, right to the top branch.

He finally stopped and placed me gently on his lap, although, his shoulders were stiff, and I could see his deep, dark eyes darting left and right, searching the space around us for…for what? What was it that was making him behave this way? So nervous and…scared.

"Draco?" I asked, placing my hand gently on his face, his eyes darted back to my face, and I was shocked to see that his eyes were glistening with tears; he was in extreme danger of crying, why?

"Renesmee, I am so sorry, I never meant to put you in danger" he whispered, leaning his head back into the tree bark, looking so defeated and miserable. I hated seeing him like this.

"Draco, what is going on?" I whispered, feeling like I was going to cry again, I had cried so much in the last couple of hours that it was hard to believe that there were any tears left in me to shed.

"One of the darkest aspects of my past has followed me here to hurt me, and whoever I care about. That means you as you are the person I care most about in the whole of the universe" he murmured, his eyes closed, his head leaning into the tree bark. Why did he have to be too ashamed to even look at me? I know he never meant to put me in any danger, I finally understood that he loved me every bit as much as I loved him.

I turned his head gently to face me. His eyes flew open as I leaned in toward him; I closed the few centimetres between us, placing a soft, sweet, but very short kiss on his lips. I pulled away to gaze intensely into those dark pools of his, those deep pools that were currently polluted with remorse and pain.

"Draco, I know that you love me so how could you ever deliberately put me in any danger? Now please tell me what's going on before I go crazy" I pleaded.

Draco sighed and attempted to lean his head back into the tree, but he was prevented from doing so as I refused to let go of my hold on his gaze. He sighed again and stared into my chocolate brown eyes for a couple more moments as he observed in an undertone:

"You have such beautiful eyes; it's one of the many thousand things that I love about you" he murmured, stroking my cheek so softly that it was as though he were not even touching me. I stared into his eyes expectantly and he stared back. Then he sighed and began to speak.

"You were created through love, the result of your mother and father's love when your mother was still human, you were then born into a loving environment, into a family that cared for you and always will care for you. I, on the other hand, was created through greed and selfishness. My father, Joham, considers himself a scientist; he has been trying to make a new super-race" here, Draco's voice, that had been droning on in a rather dead voice betrayed a hint of disgust and his face distorted slightly to match.

I froze, something had just occurred to me.

"Nahuel. You're Nahuel's brother?!" I asked.

"Thanks to my father, or for a more appropriate word, creator, I have many brothers or sisters, you've met one of them?" he asked.

"My family has, but they've told me all about him, I was really young when he came here, but I still remember parts" I answered. Yes, I did remember parts, I remember the fear and tension that was caused because of the Volturi, however, and I didn't remember anything else. Draco nodded once, that haunted look in his eyes deepening as he continued.

"I stayed with him for all of my childhood which is the reason for my rubbish conscience and disgraceful diet of human blood, however, later on I wanted to travel and experiment and see the world. At one point, I came across this coven of vampires who welcomed me into their coven. I stayed with them, these vampires were quite unreasonable, they hated the unknown, and anything they didn't know enough about had to be eliminated. This one vampire was quite affectionate to me; she was the closest thing I had ever had to a mother. Eventually, they did find out what I was, and well you can imagine their surprise and fear to meet something like me. There aren't that many of us as you know, anyway, they wanted to destroy me, the vampire who was like a mother to me tried to protect me, they killed her and I was angry and wanted revenge. Well, I angered them; I was outnumbered too, so there was nothing for me to but run. This coven had never lost a fight or a meal or anything, and they like to keep up that reputation of theirs, they pursued me and for the majority of my life, I have been running from them, although, I have been running from a lot more than just them but this colossal coven, more like an army is the only thing relevant to you at the moment."

He leaned his head back into the tree bark, finally able to do that as I was frozen, motionless, petrified with terror. Draco was in danger here and he was worried about me, apparently this was only one of the terrible things about his past. My eyes pricked with tears, how much had Draco been through? I stared intently at Draco, his eyes were closed, and he looked so agonised that it made my heart throb just to look at him. I saw a tear trickle down his face from under his closed eyelid.

"I'm so sorry, Renesmee, I never meant to put you in danger" he whispered, as solitary tear after solitary tear trickled down his beautiful face, this caused my tears to flow freely over my face. I cupped Draco's face and waited for him to open his eyes to look at me; he did so after a while, his black eyes glistening with tears.

"Stop it right this instant, I love you, regardless of what danger you put me in. I don't care even if you put a knife against my throat, it's too late, I'm already in love with you, no one or nothing on this earth or beyond can ever change that, you hear me?" I stated fiercely. He gazed at me for a couple more moments before he pulled me into his chest, his arms encaging me as though he were afraid I would be snatched from him any second.

Suddenly, he let go upon the small sound of a branch snapping. We both froze for a second, but then; he threw me onto his shoulder and raced through the tops of the trees, swinging from branch to branch. He stopped a long while later and placed me on a high branch. But he did not relax nor did he sit down with me. He made sure I was seated on the branch safely, and then he kissed me on the forehead and made to leave, that is, until I grabbed his wrist, stopping him.

"Draco, where are you going, leaving me here?" I whispered frantically.

He smiled sadly at me before leaning down to place a soft, sweet kiss on my lips before murmuring into my hair: "Stay here, don't move and don't try to follow me, don't move or make a sound until it's safe, they won't hurt you if you're not with me"

It was with dread that I realised what he was planning on doing. He was going to face them so that they would have no reason to hurt me; he was going to go sacrifice himself so that I could make my safe escape. I heard a low agonising noise come from somewhere, but then I realised that that noise had escaped MY throat. I couldn't believe that such a weak sound of pain could from me. What if I never saw him again? How would I ever live, knowing that he had died because of me? How would I ever live without the knowledge that his marvellous being existed somewhere, loving me? My grip on his wrist tightened as I contemplated the thought of losing him, I couldn't bear it.

"Renesmee, please, my mind is made up, you will escape today with your life" he whispered to me ferociously. As he said this, he gripped the tops of my shoulders, gazing into my eyes, and I knew that he did this so that he could die with the memory of my eyes. He stroked my cheek for a second before pulling me into a passionate kiss, I threw my arms around his neck, clinging to him, not wanting to let go of him into the arms of death. I kissed him back like there was no tomorrow because there was no tomorrow for him, I knew that his mind was made up; he would not listen to me no matter how much I begged.

I clung to him desperately, but then he was gone, and I was clutching nothing but air. I looked all around me, knowing as I did that there was no point, he was gone, and I had lost him forever. I felt a lump rise in my throat, I sat back down on the branch, my fear of heights gone, as I had countered a worse fear; the terror of losing Draco who I loved so much, and that was exactly what had happened.

There was nothing I could've done, I had hurt Jacob and my family, and I'd lost Draco, everything that had ever made me whole was gone, I was in pieces. I sat down on the branch, and sobbed silently. Draco was gone; the person I loved so much was gone from me forever. I was alone, completely alone. And that made me sob even more. Was this what it felt like to feel your heart tear and break? I think so, I had never felt so much agony ever before, my sobs continued to pour out, this is what it felt like to feel your heart break.


	14. Chapter 14

**Okay, I don't know how soon, but I do know that this story is nearing the end, maybe in a couple of chapters, so please leave me reviews telling me Draco or Jacob? Please review! I spend a lot of time writing all of this and I would like to spend just as much time reading the reviews for it! By the way, I remembered a song that I loved that seemed to fit this chapter so I thought I would use it. **

**Chapter 14**

Time had continued moving as I sat there on the branch. I knew that some hours had gone by, when Draco had left me here; the sun had only just risen about an hour ago, now I could tell that it was late noon. This didn't matter to me, now that Draco was gone, life had ceased to hold any importance to me, not that I was suicidal or anything. Draco had insisted that I escape today with my life, and I had never been able to resist doing what he said, but I had no wish to move anywhere or do anything.

My sobs had quietened to miserable whimpers. I knew I should I return to my family who would all be going crazy with worry by now at my disappearance, but I didn't want to face them, not because I was mad at them or anything. I could feel nothing now; I had cried so much that I was now numb. The whole no one-ever-told-me-I-had-been-imprinted-on thing had ceased to anger me. No, I didn't want to face my family because I couldn't bear to do that. The shock and hurt on their faces when they saw the condition I was in would be enough to push me off the edge of my sanity, that's what I was doing now; clinging onto the last solid scarps of reason I had left.

I didn't want to face my family, the combination of all the faces of the people I loved and cared about would just send me into hysterical cries of pain because I didn't want to see all the faces of the people I love stare at me, with the exception of one person. I loved Draco so much, and the thought that I would never again meet the gaze of that angelic face caused a huge lump to rise in the centre of my throat, a lump so huge that it felt like I couldn't breathe.

_Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no air_

_  
If I should die before I wake  
its cause you took my breath away  
losing you is like living in a world with no air, oh_

_  
I'm here alone, didn't wanna leave  
my heart won't move, it's incomplete  
Wish there was a way that I could make you understand_

I could no longer help it, a fresh torrent of tears poured over my face. How could Draco think that I could ever live with the guilt of the fact that I was the reason of his death? It made it all so much worse because I had loved him so much, I had finally understood him, and I felt that he understood me in a way that no one else could. I had fallen so deeply in love with him that my world now revolved around him.

_But how do you expect me  
to live alone with just me  
'Cause my world revolves around you  
it's so hard for me to breathe_

_{CHORUS}  
Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no air  
Can't live, can't breathe with no air  
That's how I feel whenever you ain't there  
There's no air, no air  
Got me out here in the water so deep  
Tell me how you gonna be without me  
If you ain't here I just can't breathe  
There's no air, no air_

I shot up into a straight sitting- up position whereas before I had been leaning into the tree bark in the most pathetic looking position ever, but now as I heard sounds from below me, I sat up, completely alert as I heard the sounds of someone blundering about below me. I could feel my heart beat erratically; not out of fear, out of false and stupid hope that Draco was coming back for me.

I gasped as I saw Sam Uley's face appear amongst the leaves in front of me. I knew that the tears on my face must've dried up, leaving streaks across my face; my hair was in tangled knots as I hadn't brushed it out since yesterday morning, my clothes were tattered and dirty, and I was certain with all the thinking and crying I'd done and the pain I had suffered, along with my disheveled appearance, I must've looked a state.

"Renesmee, are you hurt? The Cullens and Jacob have been going mad with worry about you, what happened? You look terrible" Sam scolded me, his words coming out in a jumble. I could feel my heart deflate as I realized how stupid I had been to think…

I opened my mouth to speak, but all that came out was a small whimper, the only thing that was in my head was Draco, how he had gone to protect me, and thus, I couldn't speak, the pain making it damn near impossible. I saw Sam's worry as he heard that wretched sound escape me; I hung my head in despair. He said nothing as he lifted me out of the branch, I made no sound as he climbed down the tree, I was numb, and all I could think was that "He's gone, he's left me forever".

I barely noticed when we reached the white house where my family was residing. I was only thinking of how I had lost Draco.

"Nessie" I heard several voices cry as Sam carried me through the front door.

"I'm really sorry, Bella, she's… not physically hurt as far as I can tell, but back in the woods, it was just like seeing your face all over again all those years ago when I found you" I heard Sam say as I looked up to see mom and dad's face blanch as they shared a look full of meaning, what was that about? But I was too numb to care about it too much.

Sam put me down on the ground upon my request, as Sam let, I saw everyone in my family and I saw exactly what I had been afraid of, what I had been certain that would cause me to break out into fresh sobs. Everyone was wearing the worried expressions I hated to see. I swallowed, but I knew that I couldn't hold the tears in any longer so I ran past everyone and up into my room, only to collapse onto my bed and sob.

"Nessie, please tell us what's wrong? Wasn't Draco with you?" I looked up to see anger cross mom's voice at the mention of Draco, what was up with that?

"Nessie, we'll leave if you would prefer to be alone" I heard dad say quietly, but I didn't want to be alone, the person who I had loved the most had already left me to protect me, I didn't want anyone else to do the same, which was why I cried desperately:

"No, please don't leave me"

Mom and dad walked over to sit on either side of me on the bed, mom put her arms around me as I sobbed into her shoulder as dad stroked my hair comfortingly. But it wasn't enough, I craved another set of arms to console me just like they did last night when I was consumed in pain and anger, but those arms would never comfort me and I cried harder into mom's arms.

"Nessie, please tell us what's happened?" dad begged softly. I cried a little more until I was sure I could speak more coherently.

"Draco's gone, he's left me forever and gone" I cried.

"You mean he just left you? Just like that?" dad growled quietly, it was then that I realized that they had misinterpreted my words into something much more cowardly and disgusting of Draco, I immediately felt furious that they could ever believe Draco would just dump me for no good reason.

"NO, SOME VAMPIRE ENEMIES OF HIS CAME HERE TO KILL ME, AND THEY WOULD'VE KILLED ME TOO IF DRACO HADN'T MADE ME HIDE AND LEFT TO FACE THEM SO THAT THEY COULD KILL HIM!" I roared furiously at them tears flooding over my face.

Mom gasped and held me tighter, dad's hands on my hair stilled for a moment before moving again, but more soothingly and gently than before. I sobbed harder into mom.

"Oh, mom what do I do? I can't live without him, and I'm hurting Jake so much because of that, I hate myself for doing this to him, but I can't help it, I love both of them so much, and I've already lost one of them" I cried.

Mom sighed before saying: "I know you probably won't believe me when I say I understand what you're going through, but I do because I had to make the same decision as you myself between Edward and Jacob, back when Jacob was still in love with me"

I stared at mom through the curtain of tears in my eyes, I believed her and I was shocked by what she just said and appalled at what she had informed me of.

"Decision?" I asked.

"Yes, you'll have to decide between the two of them, you know that, you always knew that it was coming up sooner or later, you alone know which one you can't live without" mom explained.

"Mom, how am I supposed to decide when Draco is already gone?" I asked, a low whimper coming from me.

"Nessie, only you can make that decision, I know that you have the courage to get through this. Whoever you choose, if they truly love you, they'll let you go without a fight, Jacob only ever wants you to be happy, whether you want him around as a brother or a friend or whatever, he'll be there for you, imprinting doesn't necessarily mean that you'll have to get married or anything, it just means that you guys have an unbreakable bond that will always make sure you two are there for each other" mom consoled me soothingly.

"Thanks, mom, you guys are great, but I think that I need some time alone to think" I replied, feeling more solid now, an idea of action was beginning to occur to me. Mom and dad left without a word, each of them giving me a comforting squeeze on the way out. Mom was right; I had to find that courage in me to get through this. I sat on the bed for a long time contemplating for hours. I finally nodded to myself, and got up to get dressed, so that I could set things straight.

However, it was not courage that convinced me to get dressed to leave the house again, it was that small voice in my heart that kept whispering to me that Draco was still alive somewhere. I had been sobbing all afternoon, thinking that he was dead because of that memory of our farewell, my mind had been convinced that he was gone, but all the while it was my heart been whispering that he was alive. It was that that had caused me to hope that Draco was coming for me when I had heard Sam in the forest.

Now that I had let my heart rule over and voice out its knowledge, I was following my heart (A/N, I know that sounds corny and cliché), love was telling me that Draco was alive, and I was listening and going out to find him.


	15. Chapter 15

**Thank you all for reviewing, please keep it up and do you know how annoying it is to find that someone has added your story to their favourite stories or story alert, or whatever and they don't review? Well, it's so annoying that I think eventually it'll drive me mental. So, review unless you want me to end up in the mental hospital where I won't be able to write anymore.**

**Chapter 15**

I took one long look at myself in the mirror, I had taken a long shower, relaxing all my tense muscles and washing away all signs of the salt tears on my face, shampooing my hair thoroughly, untangling the knots, brushing it out until all the bronze curls hung softly in a perfect waterfall upon my back. I had changed my clothes as well, discarding the two day old, forest stained clothes I had sobbed myself dry in. I had tied my hair back in a neat braid; I wanted perfect vision tonight with no hair swinging into my eyes. I continued to stare at myself in the mirror, trying to recognise myself.

It wasn't like I had suddenly changed my appearance, it was just that I had suffered so much in the last forty-eight hours that, although I had tidied myself up, I still looked a mess, my internal chaos occasionally surfaced across my face, sometimes breaking through the determined mask I had composed for the rest of tonight. I knew that everyone would insist that I had lost the last scraps or sanity I had left but I no longer cared. I was determined to find Draco tonight, I didn't care what I had to do, but I was going to find Draco, nothing was going to stop me.

I felt guilty about sneaking out of the house behind my family's backs, but if they had any idea what I was planning, they would lock me up in a cage and guard me to make sure I didn't do anything stupid that might endanger my life, and what I was planning had the biggest risk possible. But I hadn't lost my mind, well, not completely, I knew I didn't stand a chance on my own so I was going to go ask for help from the one person I could always rely on to be there for me. Although, I knew that after what I had put him through, Jacob would never agree to even see my face, he had perfect reason to hate me, but after talking to mom, I knew that I had to sort things out with him, and now was the time to do it.

I climbed out of the window skilfully, landing gracefully on my feet, making no noise at all. I was relying completely on my vampire skills and instincts; I was not going to give in to any of the weak human vulnerabilities within me. It was late in the night, but I was nowhere near tired, my mind was wide awake with thoughts of Draco. I ran silently all the way to La Push, hoping that I would not run into Billy or anyone else whilst I was searching for Jacob.

I found his house, knowing which one was his room. I found some pebbles which I could throw gently against his window to wake him up. However, Jacob slept like he was dead, it was always very hard to wake him up, and it would be more effective if I threw a brick at his window to wake him up. But I didn't want Billy to wake up and ask questions. I threw the first pebble and continued to throw more as I got no response. I felt like this was some twisted, ironic love story with the roles reversed, instead of a handsome guy throwing pebbles at the sleeping beauty's window to wake her up, I was the silly, impulsive half human, half vampire girl throwing pebbles to wake up my saviour, the werewolf.

I heard a window slide open, at last, I had been running out of pebbles, I would've been forced to resort to rocks, and then I heard a voice call in a whisper: "Who is there? I'll call the police if you even think we have anything worth stealing"

"Jake, I'm no burglar, it's me Renesmee, and can you please come down here?" I called back in a whisper.

"Nessie, I don't think your parents will be happy to hear how you came here to burgle my house" Jacob teased in a whisper, for that, his forehead met the pebble I had been holding in my hand.

"Someone's in a dangerous mood, I'll be right down" Jacob whispered back to me in the darkness, I saw the pebble I had just thrown at him fall to the ground at my feet, I picked it up, whenever I was with Jacob, I sometimes had to restrain the urge to beat him with something, today, however, I wasn't in the mood to restrain anything.

"Nessie, what's up that you had to come down here at 1:00 in the morning?" I heard Jacob ask me from somewhere behind me.

"Jacob, I know you have no reason to want anything to do with me, but I really need your help" I requested him quietly, looking up at his russet-coloured face that was shrouded by the darkness of the night.

"Nessie, I could never hate you and you don't need to even ask for my help to know that I'll give it straight away. But what's happened? You look a mess; did that Darco dude dump you or something? I never like the look of him anyw- "

"Shut up, Jacob, _Draco, _not Darco, did not dump me, in fact he is in trouble and I need you to help me save him" I whispered ferociously, fighting the tears that were threatening to spill over upon the mention of Draco.

"Why? What happened?" Jacob asked curiosity and not malice crossing his face. I took a deep breath so that I could steady myself before launching into my story without crying. But I failed, as soon as I thought of the events of this afternoon, tears filled my eyes, and I started crying. Jacob saw this and his eyes widened in shock, he put his arms around me as I sobbed into his vast chest. He listened calmly and quietly as I told him what had happened this afternoon, sobbing the whole time.

"So you see, Jacob, I don't know how but somehow I know that he is alive, but he could be seriously hurt or being k- k -killed and I have to save him otherwise I'll never be able to live with myself, knowing that he died to protect me, but I can't save him without your help, Jacob, you're the only person I can trust to be there for me and to help" I pleaded with him, still sobbing into his chest. I looked up to see Jacob's expression; it was unfathomable.

"I know that you probably have no reason to help him, Jacob, except that I need you to help me save him, you probably hate me too, but please, just help me and I won't ever ask you for anything else" I begged.

"Do you love him, Nessie?" I heard Jacob ask. His voice was even and calm, not as though he hated me or felt anything for this, rather as though he were considering something.

"Yes, I do, Jake, I'm really sorry but I can't live without him anymore than I can live without you" I cried into his chest.

"Then that's all I need to know, I'll go call my pack" Jacob decided. I stared at him, wondering if he had heard me right.

"Jake, what are you saying? Did you hear me?" I queried.

"Yes, I heard you, Ness; you said you loved him and that you can't live without him, that's all I need to know. I'll help you, I'll go call my pack and we'll fight of those bloodsuckers to save your boyfriend" Jacob explained patiently.

"But, Jake, I've totally hurt you; I would've thought you wouldn't want to suffer anymore, you-"Jacob put his finger to my lips, silencing me.

"Nessie, I'm only in pain when you're in pain, if that guy makes you happy, then I'm happy. Imprinting isn't like what you think it is. It's more like a bond that makes two people one person. I'll always be here for you in whatever way you want me, you not knowing about the whole imprinting thing only made it harder for me to be there for you in the way that made you happy."

"But Jacob, I don't want you to be in pain by just having to be friends with me when you want more" I cried.

"Who says that is what I want? I told you, imprinting is kind of difficult to explain, it's more like I have to do whatever makes you happy in order for me to be happy, so if you want me something as more than a friend, I have to oblige, and if you want me just as a friend then I also have to oblige"

"But Jake-"I started to say but was once again cut off by Jacob pinching my lips together. (A/N do you remember Jacob did that to Bella in Breaking Dawn?).

"Do you love me too? Even if it's not as much as that what's-his-name" Jacob asked softly, looking into my chocolate brown eyes, the ones that Draco had called beautiful, the memory made my eyes brim with tears, but I focused on Jacob and nodded slowly as I couldn't speak with Jacob holding my lips together.

"Then I'll call Leah and tell her to gather up the rest of them while I take you home" Jacob resolved, finally letting go off my lips, a mistake on his part, because now I could show him how averse I was to his plan of taking me home.

"I am not going to sit by at home when Draco and now you too are in danger. I am the reason you both are in this mess and I am going to be the reason that your sorry butts are going to get out of it" I snarled at him.

"Nessie, no way am I going to let you go anywhere near those leeches, we'll be lucky if we can mange to pull those leeches off your boyfriend, we don't need to have to pull a rescue mission for you too, that won't help anything" Jacob argued reasonably with me. I knew that he was right and that I should listen but I was past reason, I had held onto enough reason to get myself here and to convince Jacob to help me, but I was going to come.

"I am coming whether you like it or not, Jacob, you can force me to go home, but I'll just sneak right back out after you've left" I retorted angrily.

"Look, your boyfriend was trying to save you today, do you think he would like it if you walked right into those murderer's arms" Jacob retaliated cleverly. He was smart, he knew that this angle would be the most likely to succeed, but even if it was Draco standing here attempting to reason with me, I would be just as adamant.

"I don't care, I would've stopped him this afternoon but he didn't give me a chance. Besides, you need me to show you where I heard the vampires coming, plus you don't know what Draco's scent is like so you won't know how to trace him, therefore you need me" I debated cleverly. Jacob looked like he was trying to find a way to convince me to go home, but he and I both knew that he had nothing to counter my argument.

I grinned at him triumphantly and he grumbled a bit but gestured for me to follow him to Leah's house. I could sense how nervous Jacob was, that's how well I knew him. Leah was a very malicious, angry, bitter female werewolf; she was the one in his pack that he avoided. I knew why he was nervous, Leah would not be very happy to be woken up at 1:30 in the morning, she was the kind of person who would tear your head off without a second thought if she had reason enough. But she was Jacob's beta, the werewolf with the rank just below him.

He knocked on the Clearwater's front door and walked past Sue Clearwater with an apology for disturbing her. I followed him upstairs to Leah's bedroom where he burst in without a knock, grinning, I rolled my eyes at his childish behaviour as I heard Leah shriek as she was woken from her sleep. I waited outside for Jacob to calm her down enough so that she wouldn't tear his head off. Although if I had been woken from my sleep in such a rude manner in the middle of the night, I would probably react the same way as Leah, as soon as I heard the shrieks fade, I walked in to see Leah glaring murderously at Jake from her bed, her hair looking like a haystack as she sat in her bed in shorts and a t-shirt.

"Oh, so you've come to bother me as well along with your Romeo" Leah spat at me as I walked in, I wasn't scared of Leah, she had had a tough life and was just bitter, but no way did that mean I was going to let her walk all over me.

"No, I haven't actually; your master has come to command you to help him save my other Romeo" I quipped back, satisfied with the shock and anger that crossed her face.

"Look, Leah, I admit that I woke you up like this just to annoy you but I don't spend all my free time plotting how to annoy you despite what you think. It's pack duty time on an emergency schedule, okay, just go wake your brother up, I know we prefer to leave him out of all of this but we're going to need all the help we can get tonight, go wake him up and then I'll explain everything to you both." Jacob instructed Leah.

"Oh, so I see we're back to being guards dogs for the Cullens" Leah commented with disdain.

"No, we're probably going to be fighting for Nessie which is why I'm going to get Sam later on so that he can get his pack" Jacob retaliated.

Leah stared at both me and Jacob, but with one commanding look from Jacob, she jumped out of bed to go wake Seth. It was another hour before we were all ready to leave for the forest to save Draco along with Sam's pack, but at last we were ready.

My hearted thudded more frantically as I sped towards the forest with the wolves, I was going to be with Draco soon, nothing was going to stop me.


	16. Chapter 16

**I've noticed how I've only got one review from some people and then nothing else after that, I feel abandoned. I'm pouting here, but you lot probably don't care so here's the next chapter, but if I don't get enough reviews then I won't write the next chapter, so review if you want to know what happens next.**

**Chapter 16**

We all treaded on the forest path stealthily, making absolutely no noise at all. Jacob had gathered all of his pack along with Sam and his pack. Jacob seemed almost certain that there would be a big war, although I knew that the possibility of a fight was quite likely, the thought of all the werewolves fighting made me quite uneasy. Vampires could be brutal fighters, especially murderous ones, and although I knew that my friends from La Push were very skilled fighters, the fact that werewolves could be killed a lot more easily than vampires continued to haunt me.

I had never seen werewolves fight but Jacob insisted that they were excellent at battles and that they would be fine but I couldn't ignore the fact that they could be killed because of me, I didn't want to lose any of them, even Leah, strange as it might seem, but I would miss her scornful insults. Jacob, especially, I loved him too much to endure even the thought of losing him, I might not love him the same way as I loved Draco but the way I felt about Jacob was equally powerful.

Jacob, Seth, Paul, and Sam were with me as I followed Draco's wonderfully enticing scent of apple and cinnamon which I loved so much. I was the liability here, being half human, therefore the most skilled and/or strong fighters of the procession I had brought with me were to stay with me and protect me. I had no aversion to this, I wanted Jacob to stay with me, of course they had all phased so I was walking with a pack of wolves by my side. Anyone would probably think I was some keen animal lover, although, most people would probably run away, screaming as they caught sight of Sam and Jacob who were the most enormous wolves you could ever see, they were almost the size of bears.

Jacob walked by my side, his eyes darting back and forth for any danger. I could tell that Jacob was still grumbling about my presence on this dangerous rescue mission. Still in a crouch close to the ground as I attempted to follow Draco's scent, I rolled my eyes at Jacob, the russet coloured wolf by my side grinned, his tongue lolling out of his muzzle. I could see in his black eyes, which were set deep into his face but did not have the depth to his pupils the way Draco's had, exactly what he was planning.

I did not want to make a sound, so I pressed my hand into his red-brown fur, stroking it as I let him see into my mind. Through my extra talent, I let Jacob know that if he even came a centimetre near my face with that wet wolf tongue of his, he'd find his tongue torn out, licking the dust of the ground where I would leave it after I had beaten him to a pulp.

A deep rumble reverberated through Jacob as he saw that thought of mine and I stopped thinking, satisfied that he'd got the message. However, I kept on stroking his soft fur as I followed Draco's scent as I needed the comfort of his presence and I kept on stroking him as I wanted to be sure that I wasn't actually alone and that I did have a friend and guide with me to help me. I stopped as I sensed a new scent intermingle with Draco's enticing apple and cinnamon scent, this was a new scent that I did not recognise. It was not just one scent, it was a million new scents all intermingled in the air; I remembered that it had been a huge coven that had been pursuing Draco.

Jacob, Sam, Seth and Paul froze as they saw me come to a halt. Jacob nudged my hand that had stilled on his fur.

"The new scent, it's not one I recognise. It must be… those vampires who were after Draco; I can smell his scent along with the new ones. Can you guys smell it? This must be the point where they got Draco…" I explained, unable to carry on as I realized that Draco had been apprehended, there was no way he could've escaped them, from all the scents in the air, it was clear that he had been outnumbered but I knew that he was alive, but at the same time I had no idea what condition he could be in, he could be seriously wounded…

I gasped as I contemplated the danger Draco could be or was in. Jacob nudged me softly, worried about my well being. I gripped his fur, closed my eyes, and focused on my breathing as I endeavoured to hold myself together. Now was not the time to fall apart, I wanted to help, not be a problem as they all tried to deal with me. Eventually, I managed to calm myself from my minor breakdown; I relaxed my grip on Jacob's fur who continued to stare at me anxiously.

"Okay, you guys can smell all the new scents here, I'm almost certain that those are what you guys are looking for, I think you guys can follow on from here, just follow the new scents, you guys lead in case they jump out from anywhere, if you see them beforehand, it'll mean that you'll have enough time to call everyone else" I instructed in what I sincerely hoped was a calm, composed voice.

Sam and Paul stepped forward in front of me to take the lead whereas Seth and Jacob stood either side of me, their eyes darting everywhere around us, making sure that I was safe. I leaned into Jacob's warm fur for support, I was scared, not of the vampires, but of what state I would find Draco in, and of the possibility that I might lose some of my friends tonight, terrified that Jacob might be one of those that I might lose. I leaned further into Jacob's fur and whispered:

"Be safe, Jacob, don't let anything happen to you, for my sake"

Jacob stared at me with his black eyes, amused humour surfacing, I knew then by looking into his eyes, exactly what he would've said if he was human at that moment.

"I do want your help Jacob and I don't regret asking for it but I can't bear it if you got hurt, I love you too much for that" I whispered in a torn voice.

Jacob looked down, he had nothing to say. Suddenly Jacob's head jerked up as though he had heard something disturbing. I listened carefully but could hear nothing that imposed any threat. He stopped and I did the same, he looked at me and I couldn't read the look in his eyes, I tried to decipher it but it was too unreadable. Then, very suddenly, I found myself flung over Jacob's soft, furry back as he bounded forward into the woods. What was happening?

I felt Jacob skid to a halt and I sensed that he wanted to me to get off of him so I slid off his back, gracefully landing on my feet. I then looked at Jacob expectantly, he gestured with his head for me to look behind me and I obliged.

I gasped as I felt sobs rake my body; I felt my legs propel me forward to fall by Draco's side. His eyes were closed, his face scarred and scratched, his clothes were torn and untidy, and his black curly hair was a mess falling over his bruised face. His head was lolling against the bark of a sycamore tree, he looked so weak and vulnerable, and it made me sob. But he was alive just as I had suspected, I could feel his heart as I sobbed against his chest, making sure that he was real.

Then, I felt Jacob nudge me impatiently. Why couldn't he leave me alone with this moment with Draco? I turned to glare at him but then saw the panic in his eyes, panic and fear for me. Jacob never felt scared for himself; he was much too childish and reckless for that. He only ever feared for me. Just as I was wondering what he was so scared about, those scents attacked my nostrils and I remembered why Draco was in this state, what we were here to rescue him from? What Draco had sacrificed himself for to protect me from the most serious danger to me?

That coven of vampires was here. I looked at Draco's face and realized that he must've shown them his face and then made his escape to lead them as far away from me as possible. It explained why his scent had strayed so far away from the place he had left me at. But they must've caught up with him and abused him that he had only enough strength in him to run this far before he succumbed to unconsciousness. He looked like he could be seriously wounded, I could feel his heart beat begin to fade.

I needed to get him to Grandpa Carlisle now. He could be dying; I looked frantically at Jacob who looked just as panic-stricken as I felt, however, his panic resulted from the fact that some dangerous vampires were coming to kill me and then finish Draco off, but I didn't care about myself, I only cared about getting Draco to Grandpa Carlisle who would be able to save him, he had to save Draco, my life depended on it.

"Jacob, we have to get Draco to Grandpa Carlisle, I think he's dying" I begged desperately. I saw Jacob's eyes cloud with panic and confusion and then I saw that familiar authority return to his eyes. I knew then that he was shouting orders at his pack with his mental voice of the alpha he was.

Seth had been watching all of this with worried eyes, but then Leah and the rest of the pack along with Sam and everyone else lunged into the clearing. Seth came to stand beside Draco's side and lifted him up onto his back, I realized what was happening. Jacob must've ordered Seth to help me take Draco home.

But then we were all surrounded. Fifty or more vampires had entered the clearing and were observing the werewolves standing in front of me and Draco. I froze; they were all tall, ferocious looking men with crimson red eyes, their skin chalky white, almost glowing in the darkness. I stayed where I was, crouching by Draco's side, gazing at the vampires in terror. They wanted to kill my Draco, I was outnumbered, and they would kill all the werewolves. What was I going to do?

Everything was still and silent, how was I ever going to get Draco to Grandpa Carlisle? Then I saw a wolf lunge at one of the vampires and chaos began. I couldn't see what was happening, one minute everything was quiet and eerie and then a battle had broken out. I felt myself being flung onto something furry, my mind was frozen and then I remembered that we were all in danger. I searched around for Draco, they couldn't leave him behind with those monsters, but then I saw him on the back of another wolf. He looked so pale, that rose undertone that was normally there in his cheeks was gone and he looked death pale which made my throat close up as I thought of how much he was injured.

I felt the wolf I was on stop and I looked up in relief to see the white house where Grandpa Carlisle would be in. I jumped off the wolf and ran to the other wolf that had Draco on his back; I saw it was Seth who had brought Draco here.

"Come on, we have to get him inside before it is too late" I cried frantically and I ran forward into the house as Seth followed me with Draco on his back.

I burst into the house causing everyone to jump.

"Nessie, I thought you were upstairs in your room, where have you just come from…" mom's shocked angry voice ended in a gasp as Seth bounded in with Draco on his back, ignoring everyone else I turned to Grandpa Carlisle who was staring at Seth and Draco with his mouth open.

"Look, I'll explain and apologise later and then you can all punish me later but right now you need to save Draco, he's still alive but only just and I need you to save him, please just do it before it's too late… I can't live without him" I pleaded with Grandpa Carlisle, tears pouring down my face, my voice trembling with grief, worry, and panic.

Grandpa Carlisle nodded and told Seth to follow him with Draco, Seth bounded after him and I watched. I turned to see all the rest of my family staring questioningly at me. However, my vision was blurred and my head felt was pounding as my legs collapsed from weakness. I don't know whether it was from exhaustion from all of what I had done, along with all the pain I had suffered, but I soon felt myself slipping away into pitch black darkness.


	17. Chapter 17

**I was planning on writing this chapter only when I had got at least ten reviews but I got bored and I so wanted to write what happens next so I gave in (I'm weak) and decided to write this chapter and publish it. I hope you all like it and review.**

**Chapter 17**

I opened my eyes groggily. My legs felt weak upon the sofa I was lying on and I could feel a terrible pounding in my head. I groaned, I felt terrible but I tried to sit up anyway as I could feel a voice at the back of my brain telling me over and over again that there was something important that I should remember. I groaned again as I felt my head spin as I tried to sit up on the sofa.

"Careful, Nessie, you should rest" I heard my mom's voice say as I felt her icy hand push me down firmly but then the previous night came flooding back to me and my head spun again, but this time out of fear rather than weakness.

"Draco!" I gasped frantically. He was close to death when I had passed out, had grandpa Carlisle managed to save him?

"Nessie, you should really rest, you went through a lot yesterday and you fainted from exhaustion, don't stress yourself-"I heard dad attempt to soothe me, but I didn't want reassurance, the only thing I wanted was the knowledge that Draco was safe.

"I don't care, I want to know where Draco is" I cried hysterically.

"Shush, Nessie, Draco was admitted to the hospital last night, his injuries were too serious for Carlisle to treat at home" mom informed me stroking my arm soothingly. But I was frozen, Draco was in hospital, his injuries had not been treated yet as they were that serious.

"Listen to me, Nessie, Draco was admitted to the hospital but he's out of danger now, he will live" mom notified me as she shook my shoulders vigorously, forcing me to come out of my shocked distress. I relaxed at these words, Draco was going to live, and he was alright. Then I remembered something else.

"The wolves, what about them? Are they hurt because of me?" I questioned fearfully, feeling bad that I did not think of them straight away but if any of them were hurt because of me, then I would never be able to forgive myself.

"Calm down, Nessie, Seth explained everything to us and Jasper, Emmet, Rose, myself, along with Alice and Esme went to help fight off that coven whilst Carlisle treated Draco and your mother stayed here with you, I think we scared off those vampires, there were no major injuries, a couple of minor ones but everyone is fine" dad assured me.

"Promise?" I croaked. My voice was hoarse from my previous panic attack.

"We promise, you can visit everyone later, after you've been hunting and regained all of your strength" dad promised me.

"I want to visit Draco now" I demanded stubbornly.

"Nessie, I promise he is fine, he's just unconscious right now and will wake later, he's very weak but other than that, he is absolutely fine. You will visit him later but after you've rested and hunted" dad commanded me sternly, conveying to me that he will not be listening to any of my arguments. I could also see from mom's face that she was all for dad's plan.

"Fine, have it your way then" I sighed, rolling my eyes.

"Good, now go to sleep, Nessie" mom commanded in that voice that practically screamed that she won't have any arguments. I sighed and rolled over onto the couch, surprisingly, I did sleep. A very peaceful sleep and I did not wake for a couple of hours.

Mom and dad took me hunting, I knew that they noticed my preoccupation, but they left me alone and did not ask any questions, probably as dad could hear my thoughts and had told mom that it was better to leave me alone. Mom said nothing but I could tell she was curious as to what decision my thoughts would lead me to. I was thinking about the decision I would have to make between Jacob and Draco. I knew that I would have to make my decision before I visited the hospital to see Draco.

I decided I would see Jacob after I had hunted. I had finally made my decision. I finished off the deer I had attacked and walked out of the forest, saying a quick goodbye and explanation as to where I would be to mom and dad. I did not run at my vampire speed out of the forest, like I usually did, instead I strolled out of the forest, taking my time, dreading what I had to do, but I knew this was something that was inevitable, this was inevitable since the moment I had met Draco, it had to be done, I wasn't going to back out like a coward.

I reached La Push all too soon for my liking. I gulped nervously as I sauntered up to the Black's house and knocked on the door nervously. Billy opened the door and smiled at me.

"Hello, Renesmee, I haven't seen you around for a while" Billy smiled at me.

"Well, you know, just been busy, is…is Jacob at home?" I asked nervously.

"Sure, he's up in his room" Billy smiled at me.

I tried to smile back, but I guess it came out as some mangled grimace as Billy frowned slightly as though he suspected something.

With one nervous smile at Billy, I raced upstairs to Jacob's room and burst in to find him sitting on his bed, just gazing out his window.

"Hey, Jake" I beamed at him, I did love Jacob, he always made my day, but I loved Draco in a different way that I couldn't live without him and I squirmed uncomfortably at the thought that I was going to hurt Jacob.

"Hey, what's up?" Jacob grinned at me.

I squirmed at this question, I hadn't wanted to cut to the chase so soon but I suppose I should get it over and done with.

"I wanted to talk to you about something" I mumbled.

"You've chosen the other guy" Jacob stated. I stared at him, how did he know? I hadn't even told him what I was going to talk to him about.

"How did you know?" I breathed.

"You had that same look and discomfort on you when Bella came to tell me that she had chosen Edward" he explained quietly. I felt so guilty and wretched at the pain I was causing him that I looked down on the floor where I saw a solitary tear fall.

Then I felt Jacob lift my chin up to look at him. "Hey, don't feel bad, thanks to you, all that pain I had felt had disappeared and I still don't feel hurt or anything" he explained to me reassuringly, smiling a genuine smile at me instead of a sad smile like the one I had expected.

"But how is that you don't feel hurt, Jacob? I don't understand" I enquired, frowning.

"Don't you remember? I told you that imprinting is more like that you have to be happy in order for me to be happy even if it means not with me. All I want is for you to be happy and I'll be here however you want me here" Jacob explained, smiling and he really did look truly content to know that I was no longer in pain. I exhaled in relief, maybe I hadn't needed to hurt Jacob, maybe I really could have him around as my best friend.

"So, we're still friends" I clarified.

"No, because I'm your pet werewolf" Jacob scoffed, rolling his eyes. I laughed, truly elated by the fact that he wasn't in pain and that he was perfectly happy to remain my best friend.

"No, we're not friends because we're best friends, like always" I breathed happily as I threw my arms around his waist to hug him. He put his arms around me and enveloped me in a warm hug.

"So, how's your boyfriend?" Jacob asked, pulling away from me to go lounge across his bed. I sat down on his bed beside him.

"My boyfriend has a name, Jacob" I retorted, rolling my eyes.

"Sorry, but I'm not a big fan of introductions" Jacob grinned at me.

I rolled my eyes again and Jacob grinned at me as he said: "You roll your eyes so much; I'm surprised that they haven't rolled out of your sockets"

"You can be so annoying that I'm surprised that I've been able to keep my sanity for this long" I quipped back, Jacob rolled his eyes and I stuck my tongue out at him childishly, causing him to chuckle.

"Well, much as I love giving you the opportunity to drive me crazy, Jake, I really need to go and see Draco" I told him, grinning.

"Give Darco my get well soon wishes" Jacob requested, smirking.

"It's Draco, Jacob, why do you hate his name so much? You can always name your son Darco if you like it so much" I scolded him. Jacob just grinned so I knew that he had nothing against Draco, he was just enjoying the irritation he was causing me. I rolled my eyes at his childishness and walked out the door.

I went to the hospital without mom and dad; I wanted to talk to Draco alone, if he was conscious, that is. I arrived at the hospital and entered Draco's room, shutting the door quietly behind me. I turned around to face him, he was awake, staring at the ceiling absent-mindedly, I took advantage of those few moments where he was unaware of my presence to savour his appearance.

He looked very weak, but still as gorgeous as ever. There were faint shadows under his eyes, but I was happy to see that his deep, black eyes were open, just as beautiful as I remembered. His dark curls fell over his face in a dishevelled mess but he still looked angelic. He turned his head and then saw me, I blushed upon being caught staring at him but he smiled at me happily and gestured for me to come closer. I walked over to him timidly and sat down on a nearby stool.

"Hello" he greeted me softly.

"How are you feeling?" I asked quietly.

"Well, I was surprised to wake up and find myself in a hospital feeling absolutely exhausted with absolutely no memory of how I ended up like this so I hope you won't mind if I ask you what happened?" Draco responded, I stared at him for a couple of moments and he met my gaze evenly, I can't even begin to describe how wonderful it felt to stare into those dark, twin pools again.

"What do you remember?" I enquired.

"I remember leaving you in the tree and then finding the coven, they attacked me straight away and I tried to run so that I could lead them as far away from you as possible and that's the last thing I can remember" he explained quietly, watching my reaction carefully.

"Well, after you left me, Sam Uley found me and took me home and I after a while, I somehow knew that you were alive somewhere so I went to Jacob and the wolves to ask them to help me save you, they agreed and we found you in the forest, the coven came and the wolves fought them off whilst Seth and I took you to Grandpa Carlisle so that he could treat you, and that's about it" I summarised for him, editing so much that it should be illegal. I didn't want to tell him about the confusion, hurt, fear, and panic that these events had entailed, nor did I tell him about my conversation with Jacob today, but he knew that there was a lot more to the story than I had told him, I could see it in his eyes and I could also see that he wasn't going to ask any question which was a relief to me.

"You shouldn't have come after me though, that was much too dangerous" he admonished me; I rolled my eyes in exasperation, what was with everyone about getting themselves into danger but not allowing it for me?

"What's done is done, I went after you and there's nothing you can do about it" I stated.

"Do you love getting yourself into dangerous situations or something?" Draco enquired, raising one eyebrow.

"Oh yes, I welcome danger with open arms" I answered lightly.

Both of Draco's eyebrows went up as he shook his head. I smiled back as I mumbled, adding to my previous statement:

"Besides, getting myself into danger is what got me to meet you"

Draco stared at me, and then his eyes and facial expression softened and I was melting as I looked at his beautiful face.

"I love you, you know that?" Draco murmured softly as he reached out to stroke my cheek.

"I know" I murmured back and this knowledge would keep me blissfully happy and warm forever.

**Okay, I think that the next chapter might be the last one, or the one after that, it depends on how the story flows, but just be warned that this story's ending is very near, review please.**


	18. READ! PLEASE

**READ: IMPORTANT!**

**Well, it's important to me, depending on how much you like my writing, if you really like my writing then this would be important to you too. Anyway, before you read the last chapter of Torn Apart, I just want to inform you all that I'll be writing a new fanfic right after, it will be about Bella and Edward, all human, by the way. Basically, Bella is in love with Edward Mason (did I spell it right?, please tell me) but he doesn't notice, sound like a classic scenario, well, Edward has a very good reason for not noticing, he has way too much trouble to deal with at home to notice that his friend is in love with him. **

**His father gambles, drinks, smokes, abuses his family, you'll all hate him, by the way, his parents are ****NOT**** Carlisle and Esme, they are both way too nice, they are parents of Alice and Emmet Cullen. Anyway, Edward's mother has a mental disease, so he has to protect himself as well as his mother from his father, at the same time, keeping all of this a secret from the whole world, including his friends, I'm sure that's enough to get anyone stressed. Anyway, Edward is hiding all of this from everyone, but then he lands up in very deep trouble (jail, in fact, you'll have to read to find out whether he is guilty or innocent of which crime) and then Bella gets involved, and this might just be the factor that changes their relationship forever.**

**I know I probably didn't give such a good summary but I promise you I will make the story a lot better, please read it, it would mean a lot to me. This story will be called 'For Your Sake', I will start writing it very soon, please read it and review.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hi, it's me again with the final chapter of my first complete fanfic; I'm surprised and joyous over how many reviews I received for my first attempt at a fanfic. I was planning on writing my feelings on this in this note but I had too much to say so I put it into a chapter before this with information on my next fanfic, read it if you haven't already, oh yeah and review!**

**Chapter 18**

Draco had to stay in the hospital for another week, his injuries had almost killed him but he had managed to survive, although he insisted that that was because of me as I had brought the wolves to help him. I had told him that in that case he should be thanking the wolves instead of me, he then always insisted that if it weren't for me they would have never been aware that he needed saving, I retaliated this by arguing that they could've refused to help me, although he then disputed that no one can be that cruel, I just rolled my eyes at him, wondering as I did so why was it that I could never win any arguments against anyone?

All the rest of my family, along with all of the wolves had gotten quite acquainted and friendly with Draco which was a relief as I planned on spending the rest of my existence with him and I didn't want my life turning into a Romeo and Juliet scenario. Draco recovered steadily and was discharged from the hospital by the end of the week much to his satisfaction and relief as he missed climbing the trees in the forest which he confided in me, this response was just so typical of Draco that I couldn't resist rolling my eyes, now that I thought about it, Jacob was right, I did roll my eyes a lot but maybe that was due to the lack of maturity from everyone around me.

I smiled as I thought of all of this as I strolled towards the tree in the forest that Draco and I always lounged in to talk. Although all the trees used to look the same to me, I could now tell which tree was the one Draco and I always lounged in. There were so many memories hanging in the air around this tree, as Draco had once reminded me, this was the tree we had both fallen out of, not just once but twice, I corrected myself mentally, the first time we met when Draco had almost killed me and the second time on our first date, though, of course, I never thought of it that way at the time but now it felt lovely to think that way. This was the tree that Uncle Emmet had pinned Draco against after they had stopped him from killing me. I loved this tree, mental as it sounds.

I felt a familiar set of arms pull me up into the tree, this time I did not scream as I recognised Draco's touch. He pulled me up as I was still slightly reluctant to climb trees. He yanked me up and placed me on his lap where I placed my head on his chest happily.

"Hello" he murmured into my hair.

I grinned at him as I told him: "I think you're starting to rub off on me, some time ago, I would've shrieked my head off upon being pulled up into a tree but now I'm quite happy with it."

"So you are over your aversion to trees?" Draco queried, one of his eyebrows raised.

"No, just this one because we have so many memories here, I think my favourite memory is the one where Uncle Emmet pinned you against this tree" I responded, finishing in a teasing tone.

"And that's important to you?" Draco quoted, my words sounding like an echo as that is exactly what it was, an echo, an echo of my words from one of our first meetings, I smiled at the memory.

"You have a good memory" I observed smilingly.

"Of course, how is it possible that I ever forget any moment I spent with you?" Draco breathed into my ear, leaning his head down so that our faces were on the same level.

"The way you regard me is ludicrous" I remarked, shaking my head. (_A/N Do you guys remember Edward saying something like that in Eclipse?) _

"No, what's ludicrous is how you've gotten over your fear of heights" Draco countered, I could hear the question in his voice and see it in his deep, black eyes that were gazing lovingly at me.

"Well, I've had to contend with a fear much worse than heights and I guess that's sort of given me courage to not enjoy heights but to endure it without any protests" I explained.

Draco raised both of his eyebrows at this, he knew of my hatred of showing any weakness so me admitting that I have another fear is a bit unorthodox for me. Still looking surprised, he asked "And what terrible extra fear is that, may I ask?"

I took a deep breath knowing that what I would say next would bring us the sore ache that this memory still held for us, "Losing you is a lot worse than dealing with heights, I can't live without you and I've already had to deal with the possibility of that, so climbing trees is nothing compared to that" I elaborated, not looking at his face whilst I talked. He was silent for a while before I felt his gentle fingers tilt my chin upwards towards him.

"Your way of regarding me is a lot more ludicrous than mine" he said softly.

"But that's why you love me" I joked.

His eyes gleamed with a passionate light as he replied "Yes, that's just one of the many thousands of reasons that I love you for". With that, he leaned down to kiss me passionately.

When we finally broke away, I leaned my head back onto his chest, murmuring as I did so "I love you so much, forever, nothing will ever change that".

"That's why I'm still here by your side, forever" he vowed. I couldn't have agreed more as our lips met again.

Draco was by my side where he would always be forever and that's what would give me the strength to live through whatever fate and life has to throw at me. We continued to kiss in the branches of the ash tree that stood as resolutely and immovable as our love.

**Well, that's it, it was quite a short chapter, I know, but I just wanted to have a perfect ending. Review please.**


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